Open Your Eyes
by myeveryday
Summary: They were supposed to be invisible. But to those with The Sight, like the Rocca twins, they were anything but. And now they're caught in the middle of it all.
1. One of Them

**Author's Note: Yeah, I'm terrible. I know that I've taken down almost all Power Ranger stories I've put up, but I think this might be the one that will stay. I really hope you'll all read it—it is Mystic Force, seeing as how that's my favorite branch of Power Rangers. This is also based off of an amazing book called Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr. I hope you all like it! Flashbacks are in italics. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or Wicked Lovely.**

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**Seventeen Years Ago**

_The young mother cradled two babies in her arms—one in each. One was wrapped in a pink blanket, the other wrapped in a blue blanket. She walked through the park, ignoring the curious stares she got from the regulars. She normally never left the safety of her house, so what was she doing out and about… let alone with two babies? _

_Finally, she stopped in front of a woman that couldn't be more than twice her age. She sat down on the bench next to the woman and bounced her leg up and down impatiently. _

_"Mother, how will we know if they can See?" she asked._

_The older woman put her hand on her daughter's leg, effectively stilling it. "Just watch. They'll look if they can See." _

_The young mother turned the babies around in her arms, so they could look out at the scene before them. To a normal person, one would see a family picnic going on; a Frisbee game between a dog and it's owner; a few children happily playing basketball; but to a person with The Sight, they would see so much more._

_Those with the sight would see the abnormally beautiful people walking around the park. They had a faint glow about them, and each walked in their own group—the Bone Fairies, with their obviously skeletal appearance and grey hair; the Woodland Fairies, with their mossy appearance; the Summer and Winter Fairies, each of which exuded exactly what their title was; the list went on._

_The two infants in the young woman's arms opened their eyes, revealing identical brown irises. They looked around the park, and their eyes landed on a group of Woodland Fairies bothering an older couple. The older couple couldn't see them—they just swatted at the air, most likely thinking that they were being bothered by insects. Her daughters shouldn't be able to see them, either. However, her hopes were dashed as their brown orbs followed the Woodland Fairies as they walked away. She closed her eyes and ducked her head._

_"They have it," she whispered._

_The older woman sighed. "Kat—"_

_"No!" Katherine Rocca jumped up, momentarily forgetting that she had two infants in her arm. She immediately stopped her movements when she heard one of her daughters whimper. She looked back at her mother, a half-furious, half-terrified look in her eyes. "Mother, I am twenty years old! I can't have two daughters with The Sight! I just can't do it!" _

_"Yes, you can." The older woman, Dana Rocca, stood up and took one of the infants from her daughter. "I'll be with you the whole time."_

_"How do you know?" Katherine asked softly._

_Dana let out a laugh. "Sweetie, I had you at the same age! I'm not that much older. Trust me—I'll be with you for a long time."_

* * *

**Present Day**

Madison Rocca searched through the coat rack, and then let out a frustrated sigh. "Vida!" she yelled. "Where is my jacket?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Vida Rocca yelled down the stairs.

Katherine Rocca entered the entrance hall, her hands on her hips. "There is no need to yell so loud," she scolded.

Madison pointed up the stairs. "She's the one that's yelling—talk to her." Instead of grabbing her normal jacket, she grabbed a jean jacket instead. She quickly put her arms through it and shrugged it on, hoping she could leave the house before her mother asked where she was going.

Just as she was about to open the door, her mother appeared at her side. She put her hand on the door and pushed it shut with surprising strength.

"Where do you think you're going?" Katherine asked.

Madison sighed and blew her bangs out her eyes. With one hand, she absentmindedly tucked her raven long raven hair behind her ear before answering. "I'm going to see Chip," she said.

Katherine eyed her daughter suspiciously. "I want you back before dinner," she said.

Madison had to bite the insides of her cheeks to keep from grinning. "Yes, Mom," she said. She quickly darted out the door and down the street, momentarily forgetting the people around her in her excitement.

Suddenly, the seventeen year-old abruptly stopped. A Bone Fairy passed by and pushed a man in front of her. But as abruptly as she stopped, she started walking again. It was one of the rules: You weren't supposed to look at the invisible Fairies.

With a sigh, Madison tucked her hands inside her pockets. Chip was really Vida's best friend, but she and the wild red-head had grown up together. She liked to visit him herself from time-to-time. And besides that, she got to have some freedom that her mother often refused her and her twin sister.

Finally, a few minutes and several yards of stiff walking later, Madison lifted her hand and knocked on the bright yellow door. Chip's parents had been killed when he was a baby, and he lived with his uncle. Seeing as how his uncle was always out and about on business, Chip had been given his own loft in the small city of Briarwood.

The door swung open, but Chip wasn't standing there. Madison stuck her head in the door—Chip wasn't anywhere to be seen. She stepped back out and looked around her before hesitantly stepping into the loft.

It looked as if no one had been in there for a few days. There were empty pizza containers and soda bottles, and the room smelled atrocious. Of course, that wasn't really surprising for Chip. He always had some disgusting concoction of food hidden somewhere.

"Chip?" Maddie called out. "Chip?" She searched all of the rooms, but her red-headed friend was nowhere to be found.

Deciding that she would call his cell, Madison turned to leave. As she was about to walk out the door, however, something caught her eye. She froze in her tracks and slowly walked towards the object she had seen.

It was a long staff made of rough wood. In some places it was chipped and peeling, and on the top, there was a symbol made of yellow crystal. Afraid of what it would do, Madison touched it gently. It glowed under her fingertips.

She dropped the staff as if it had burned and she bolted out of the loft and all the way back down the street. She was breaking a rule: Don't attract the attention of the Fairies, but she didn't care. She entered her house, slammed the door behind her, and scrambled up the stairs.

"Whoa, Maddie!" Vida exclaimed as Madison pounded on her door. "Where is the fire?"

"It's Chip," Maddie panted. "He's one of them."

Vida looked at her sister, a look of confusion on her face. "One of what, Maddie?"

"One of _them_," Maddie clarified. She watched as Vida visibly paled. "A Fairy."

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**Author's Note: I really hope you all liked this. This is going to have the same concept of Wicked Lovely, but there are many details that will be different. Review, please?**


	2. Breaking the Rules

**Author's Note: Thank you for the amazing reviews. I'm glad you like the story so far! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or Wicked Lovely.**

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**Sixteen Years Ago**

_"There are five mortals they're picking," Dana said. _

_Katherine looked over at her twin daughters, a look of anxiety on her face. She walked towards them and pulled Maddie into her lap. "Do we have to worry about it?" she whispered, holding the toddler close to her._

_Dana looked unsure. The older woman stood over her daughter and grandchildren. "I don't know," she finally admitted. "They have The Sight, Kat. If any of them ever found out, I'm sure they'd be pulled into it somehow."_

_"Or blinded!" Katherine wailed, startling her children. "You know what they do to people with The Sight, Mother! They gouge their eyes out! They kill them! My children will not be subjected to it. I refuse to let it happen!" _

_"Calm down," Dana snapped. Her face softened as she watched her daughter pull Vida into her arms—she cradled both of her children close to her as tears came to her eyes. "You can't keep them locked up forever," she said in a softer voice._

_The young mother looked up at the older woman. "Watch me."_

* * *

Vida grabbed her sister's arm and yanked her into her room. She slammed the door shut behind them and whirled around to face Maddie.

"What do you mean, Chip is a Fairy?" Vida hissed.

"I mean, Chip is a Fairy!" Maddie repeated. "God, what else does it mean?"

"It could mean that he put on some fairy wings and ran around with a fake wand. You know how he is."

"Yeah, okay. And then he got one of the staffs from the stories that Grandma is always telling us about. Alright, sure."

Vida, who was already pale, became whiter even still. "A staff?" she asked. "You sure?"

"I'm positive," Maddie affirmed. "I saw it, I touched it—"

"YOU TOUCHED IT?" Vida yelled. Both the twins winced and looked towards the door, waiting for the sound of their mother's footsteps. When they didn't hear anything, Vida spoke again. "Are you stupid, Madison? You knowingly broke one of the rules! They can't exist to us! You can't touch the damn staff!"

"I know the rules!" Maddie snapped. When she saw the look on her sister's face, she immediately softened. "Look, I know I wasn't supposed to touch it. But how I was I going to know if it was real."

Vida sighed and ran a hand through her short raven locks. The green streak in her hair had begun to fade—Vida would be dyeing it a different color soon. "Well, we can't let Mom know," she finally said. "She has a hard enough time letting us out of the house as it is. We don't need to let her know that our best friend has become a… you know."

"Yeah, I do know," Maddie said, her temper rising once more. "I know that he's a Fairy. And that's what I'm going to call him. We're not freaking Harry Potter, Vida."

Vida's lips curled up in a smirk. "Really? Because I would get a total kick out of calling Chip 'You Know Who.'"

The twins looked at each other before breaking out into a fit of laughter. After what they had just discovered, it was a relief to be able to laugh as hard as they could. Momentarily forgetting that their childhood friend was now one of the people they had to ignore was the best thing right now.

* * *

The woman sat on her cold, stone throne. It was the place she had been banished to for one hundred years—even after getting out, she still enjoyed sitting there. She still enjoyed the fear that her people got whenever they were around her. She smiled to herself, a smile that caused her court to think that she knew something they didn't—and she always did.

Tendrils of smoke rose from the bodies of her court as they went about their daily work. She sat on her throne, watching them, waiting for Imperious. He was her right-hand man, and she was the only one she could even begin to trust in the Dark Court.

"My Lady."

The woman looked up at the familiar voice. "Imperious," she greeted. She nodded her head slightly, gesturing for him to continue on.

"They have three of the chosen five," Imperious said. He was frightening without his ridiculous armor on—and he knew it. His skin was a pale gray, and the texture looked as if it were worn leather. His cheeks were sunken and his eyes, black as night, looked abnormal in his face. His tattoos looped around his arms, up his neck, and ended on the sides of his face. His hair was gray, but it had the appearance of metal. It seemed that if you touched it, your hand would be ripped apart.

"Just three?" she asked.

"The Red, Yellow, and Green Wizards," Imperious confirmed. "The Blue and Pink Witch have yet to be found."

The woman let out a humorless laugh. "They won't find them," she said.

"Are you sure, My Lady? They have already found the three wizards."

"There have not been a Blue and Pink Witch for centuries. The last batch of hopefuls couldn't even hold the power. What makes this time any different?"

"My Lady—"

"Do you doubt me?" she demanded. She stood, and her court immediately froze. When they were out on the streets, in the Human Realm, they never acted frightened. Whenever they were in the presence of their Queen, however, they were immediately afraid.

"No," Imperious said hastily. "I'll keep an eye out for them."

"Yes," she said, sitting back down. "You will."

"Another time then, Necrolai," Imperious said. He left the room, walking swiftly past the court members.

Necrolai let a smirk unfurl. "Yes," she said. "Another time."

* * *

"This is ridiculous," Vida declared. She sat down on the ground, in front of a tree. "We can't find him anywhere. Where the hell could he be?"

Maddie looked around, as if the answer might pop out from behind a tree. They had looked in all of Chip's favorite places, in the hopes that he would show up. He wouldn't just leave the staff there. She looked at the park, and then at the winding trail that disappeared into the woods.

"Would he be in the woods?" Maddie said. She put her hands on her hips and stood above Vida, her eyes dropping. She was exhausted.

"Oh, no," Vida. "There is no way in hell that I'm going into the woods. You couldn't pay me to go into the woods. You would have to kill me, and even then, I wouldn't go into the woods. You would have to—"

"Okay, V," Maddie said, cutting her twin off. She sighed and shook her head. "I thought you were the adventurous one."

"I am," Vida declared. "But I also know the rules. And these are the only rules that I'm ever going to follow."

She leaned against the tree, but those few seconds of contact were all that she needed. Suddenly, the tree began to glow, and Vida began to sink through it. She let out a yelp of surprise as she disappeared through the tree, and she desperately grabbed for Maddie.

In a panic, Maddie reached for her sister's hands. She latched onto them and didn't let go as she dug her feet into the ground and pulled. But it did no good. Maddie soon found herself being sucked into the tree as well.

And before either of them could stop, they were completely through.

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**Author's Note: Yeah, worst cliffhanger ever. It's not like you all don't know what happens. But that's okay. I really hope you all liked this chapter. Review, please?**


	3. No Point in Pretending

**Author's Note: Thank you for the amazing reviews! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or **_**Wicked Lovely**_**.**

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**Fifteen Years Ago**

_"They can walk now."_

_"They've been able to walk for a year, Kat." _

_Katherine sighed and looked at her mother. "That means that it will be that much harder to keep them away from them. They'll be curious." She watched in fascination as Vida toddled towards the chair and pulled herself up onto it. Her raven hair fell to the middle of her back, shining in the light as she hoisted herself up into the window. Vida pressed her face to the glass and looked out. A smile spread across her face and she turned around, beckoning for her sister to join her._

_Dana sighed loudly. "You can't keep them locked up forever, Kat." _

_"We've had this conversation before, Mother. I told you—I'm keeping them as close to me as possible."_

_"So what does that mean?" Dana stopped preparing dinner and turned to look at her daughter. "Are you going to home-school them? Keep them from having friends? Stop them from going to the park? And what happens when they turn eighteen, Katherine? They can leave the house and do whatever they want to do with their lives. You can't shield them from the world."_

_Katherine felt tears come to her eyes. She knew that her mother was right, but she couldn't help but want to keep her daughters from the terrors of the Fairies. They were nothing but trouble—as a child, she could remember being tormented by them, and they didn't even know that she could see them. She didn't want her daughters to go through that._

_Dana walked towards the window and scooped the twins up into her arms. "Think about it, Katherine."_

* * *

"Where the _hell_ are we?"

"Well, why are you looking at me, V? It's not like I know!"

"You're the smart one, Maddie!"

"So? I also know that it's impossible to get sucked through a tree, but… oh, look! We just did!"

"What are you two arguing about?"

"CHIP!"

The twins jumped up to hug him. Just as they were about to touch him, however, they stopped, lowered their arms, and slowly backed away. Chip, who had his arms spread wide open in anticipation of their hug, kept his arms at shoulder height as a confused look passed over his face.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Maddie and Vida shook their heads, staring at his outfit. Chip looked down. He was wearing black pants, a white shirt with a yellow symbol on it, a leather vest, and leather cuffs with Celtic designs on them. He cursed softly and resisted the urge to snap his fingers, therefore changing his outfit.

He tried to talk to them again. "How did you two end up all the way out here?"

"We could ask you the same question," Vida challenged.

Maddie rolled her eyes. If it was true that he was one of them, there was no sense in hiding their secrets anymore.

"We got sucked through a tree," she said. "Care to explain?"

"Maddie!" Vida yelled. "What the hell?"

"Vida," Maddie said. "There's no point in pretending."

Vida opened her mouth to argue, but stopped when Chip let out a yelp of excitement. His eyes were wide and he reached forward, grasping the twin's wrists in his hands. Maddie and Vida both winced at his touch—it was slightly familiar, but it seemed to have an almost electric feeling.

"No way," Chip said as he pulled them along. "This would be so awesome if it were true! Wait until you meet everyone… This is so cool! You wouldn't believe…" He began to talk entirely too fast. Maddie and Vida didn't try to decipher what he was saying as he pulled them towards a large tree.

The trunk's circumference seemed to be as big as their house, and it seemed to stretch up endlessly to the sky. The branches swept low, almost touching the ground. Chip placed his hand on the wood of the tree, and part of it slid apart.

He pulled Maddie and Vida into it, and cupped his free hand around his mouth. "I found them!" he yelled. "I found the other two!"

Footsteps and voices could be heard echoing from above them. By then, Chip had let go of them, and the sisters stood next to each other, their bodies as stiff as boards.

"Chip," a slightly familiar Australian accent got louder as the person got closer. "I highly doubt that you've found them—"

Xander Bly stopped in his tracks when he saw Vida and Maddie. A smirk spread across his face. "Hm," he said. "Interesting. The Rocca twins are actually out and about in public."

"Shut up, Bly," Vida snapped.

Maddie breathed a quiet sigh of relief. It was the old Vida showing through again—the sarcastic, quick, smart-assed one.

"Chip," another voice said. It was a male voice, one that was completely unfamiliar. "You brought them here?"

Maddie's breath caught in her throat as the person who was speaking stepped into view. With his tanned skin, dark hair, and height, he definitely fit the description of tall, dark, and mysterious. His eyes, however, were a bright green-blue—brighter then Maddie had ever seen. Self-consciously, she raised a hand to her eyes. In her opinion, she had boring, dull, mud-brown eyes. Her sister had tried to convince her otherwise, but Maddie wouldn't listen. Her eyes didn't have the same mischievous sparkle that Vida's had.

"Well, yeah," she heard Chip say. She snapped her attention back to her red-haired friend. "I know that I'm really not supposed to, but they're it. They came through the tree."

"Really?" Xander asked. He crossed his arms and walked closer to the twins. He was wearing similar clothing to Chip—only his designs were green, not yellow. Looking at the stranger, Maddie noted that his clothes were also similar to Chip's, but his designs were red. "That's interesting."

"Take one more step, Bly, and I swear to god—"

"Now, now," Xander said, cutting Vida off. "That's not very nice."

"Xander, I don't need you arguing with Vida. She and Maddie already do that enough." Chip disappeared behind a bookshelf, and then reappeared a few moments later, carrying two staffs in hand. He tossed them towards the twins, a smile on his face.

Their hands shot out and caught the staffs on reflex. The symbols at the top of the staffs-- Maddie's blue, Vida's pink—glowed brightly. At the same time, the let go of the staffs. They clattered to the ground, their odd symbols glowing brightly.

"No way," Xander said, voicing what all of the three boys were thinking. He seemed truly in awe.

"Yeah," Vida said. "I agree with Aussie-Boy. There's no way."

"What do you mean, there is no way?" Chip asked. "It glowed. You two are it."

"No, we're not," Maddie said. She shook her head and stepped away from the glowing staff, as if to make a point.

"I don't want to be a Fairy!" Vida wailed.

"Vida!" Maddie scolded. They weren't supposed to draw attention to themselves. That rule had already been severely broken. But they were also supposed to pretend that the Fairies didn't exist. Chip may be their friend, but they had no idea which Court he was working for. He very well could have been a part of a court where it was his orders to blind the people with The Sight.

"What?" Vida asked. "You already said there was no point in pretending."

"How did you two know about the Fairies?" Chip asked.

Vida and Maddie glanced at each other, and then sighed in unison. There was no point in even trying to hide it anymore. They had already blown their cover.

"We have The Sight," Maddie said.

"How much do you actually know?" Xander asked, recovering from his shock.

"Everything," Vida said stubbornly.

Maddie shook her head. "Regardless of what we may or may not know, this is impossible. We're not a Fairy."

Chip chuckled. "Maddie, you and Vida aren't Fairies," he said.

"Then what are we?" Vida demanded.

Chip held out his hand. "Let me see your left wrists."

While exchanging confused looks, Maddie and Vida held out their left wrists. Chip motioned for them to flip them over, so the inside of their wrists were showing. They gasped at what they saw.

On each of their wrists was the same glowing symbol on the staff. Maddie's was blue, just as on her staff, and Vida's was pink, likewise.

"You two are Guardians—just like us."

And the three boys extended their left wrists, revealing yellow, green, and red symbols.

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**Author's Note: I hope you liked this chapter. This was important, but in regards to action, it was a bit of a filler. Review, please?**


	4. Joining the Team

**Author's Note: Thank you for the amazing reviews. I'm going to try to update this story as much as possible, to make up for the fact that I delete almost every Power Rangers story I've ever written. But I really like this story and I hope I can do something with it. Also, someone asked if I would be basing this off Seelie and UnSeelie Courts—and the answer is yes, I will, a bit. There is that idea in **_**Wicked Lovely**_**, but this story will have two main Courts—those Courts will be distinguished in this chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or **_**Wicked Lovely**_**.**

* * *

**Fourteen Years Ago**

_"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Maddie and Vida, happy birthday to you."_

_Dana scoffed as the three year old twins leaned forward and attempted to blow out the candles on their small cake. She crossed her arms and glared at her daughter, feeling very much like a child—it should be her daughter acting this way, not her. _

_"This is ridiculous," Dana found herself saying. "This is absolutely pathetic. I don't call this a birthday party, Katherine." She had taken to calling her daughter by her full name, not by the affectionate nick-name she had once called her._

_"Mother, don't start," Katherine said in a dull voice._

_"I'm not joking. You can't keep them locked up like this!" _

_"We've had this conversation for the past three years, and every time I give you the same answer—I'm going to protect my daughters!" _

_"From what, Katherine?"_

_"From the Fairies, Mother! What else?"_

_Dana sighed. "Katherine, I didn't lock you up, and the Fairies didn't bother you. You are perfectly fine—you can see, and, correct me if I'm wrong, you're not dead." The older woman shook her head, wondering where she had gone wrong in raising her daughter. "The Fairies are harmless creatures, if you just ignore them."_

_"Yes, Mother, they're completely harmless. That's why one of them won't leave me alone," Katherine deadpanned. Her mother knew the story—she didn't know why she was arguing with her._

_"Well, you did leave him," Dana said bluntly. Katherine glared at her. "What? You did. You left him in the dust, taking two of the most important things in his life with you."_

_"They aren't his," Katherine said stubbornly. _

_"Yes, okay, Katherine. He's the only one you've ever been—"_

_"Yes, Mother, I know!" Katherine yelled. The twins stopped their miniature celebration for a few moments and turned to stare at their mother, looks of intelligent concern on their little faces. Katherine managed a tight smile and her daughters went back to their cake—Vida shoved a piece of it in Maddie's face. _

_Katherine lowered her voice as she spoke. "I know. They may be his in blood and flesh, but they aren't his in spirit."_

_"What is that supposed to mean?" Dana demanded. She didn't know what her daughter was talking about—she was beginning to sound like a crazed person. Dana had half a mind to take her granddaughters and leave._

_Katherine looked out the window. Her eyes grew wide for a few moments, but she struggled to put a stoic look on her face._

_"Nothing, Mother," she said. "It means nothing."_

* * *

"So." Maddie sat next to the dark-haired boy from earlier. He looked up at her, a small smile on his face. Actually, it was a cross between a smile and a smirk—it didn't quite hold the innocence of a smile, but it didn't have the mischievousness of a smirk, either. "What's your name? I don't think I've seen you around town before."

Oh, Vida would be so proud of her.

"My name is Nick Russell," he said. "Let me guess: you're the Madison Rocca we've heard so much about from Chip."

"Yes, I am," Maddie said, slightly impressed. "How did you know?"

"Well, according to Xander, Vida is the one with the short hair and the bitchy attitude, and you're the one with the long hair and the nice demeanor."

"Xander thinks I'm nice?" Maddie asked, a little bit of sarcasm mixed in with her voice. "I'm touched."

"That's the ultimate compliment, coming from Xander," Nick said with a laugh.

Maddie laughed a little. It was so easy to talk to him. "Well, Vida isn't a bitch," she finally said. "Don't listen to Xander. It's just years of sexual tension coming to a head."

"I figured," he said. "Whenever Chip brought the two of you up, he would start spouting off about Vida."

"Who's spouting off about me?"

Nick and Maddie looked up as Vida sat down at the round table. She was wearing a scowl, and she propped her arm up on the table and rested her chin in it. Maddie could guess what had her so pissed off, so she answered before Nick could.

"Nothing," Maddie said. "Was Xander bothering you?"

Nick gave her a knowing look, and Maddie suppressed a smile. It was amazing how well he already knew Xander, so that must mean he knew Chip very well, as well. She absentmindedly rubbed the blue tattoo on her left wrist.

"Yes," Vida mumbled. "God, I hate him."

"Yeah, just like you hate pink," Maddie deadpanned.

"Maddie!" Vida yelled. "I don't like pink," she hissed.

"Uh-huh. Sure. And Mom isn't a control freak."

Nick's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Chip sat down at the table next to Vida, and Xander took a seat on the other side of her. "Vida and Maddie's mom is a control freak. She always has a problem with letting them leave the house." He chuckled. "I remember the first time we were going to hang out—we were going to go bowling for my birthday party, and their mother just about had a coronary when I said we were going out into a public place. This explains it."

"She always had a problem with the fact that we had The Sight," Maddie said.

"We have "rules"," Vida said, using her fingers to make quotation marks. "They are the only rules we ever follow." The short-haired twin glared at her sister. "Except, somebody's been having a problem with them lately."

"V, that's not fair!" Maddie said. "You're the one who fell through the tree, anyway."

"Oh, so it's my fault that tree can defy physics!"

"Yes!"

"It's not."

Maddie and Vida stopped arguing and looked at Xander. They raised their eyebrows.

"What?" they said in unison.

"The only way you can get through the trees is if you're a Guardian or a Fairy," Xander said.

"So we would have gone through it anyway?" Vida asked, looking slightly perturbed.

"Yup," Xander said as leaned back in his chair.

"I think it's our turn to do a little explaining," Chip said. "We have a lot to fill you in on." Vida and Maddie nodded their heads. Despite the fact that they didn't want any of this, they were still a _little_ curious.

For a moment, the old saying "Curiosity killed the cat" entered Maddie's mind. She pushed it away and leaned forward slightly, signaling to Chip that she wanted him to start talking.

"We kind of got mixed into it when we helped an "old man" find his brother in the woods," Chip began. He used his fingers to make air quotes when he said 'old man.'

"What's with the air quotes?" Vida inquired.

Nick chuckled. "You'll find out."

"It turns out it wasn't an old man we were helping—it was a woman, a previous Guardian," Chip explained. "She told us that we were chosen to be Guardians. I went because I thought it sounded completely awesome."

Xander shrugged his shoulders. "I had nothing better to do."

"I figured I should go just in case this woman turned out to be a nut case," Nick said. "Someone had to watch these two."

"That's normally our job," Maddie muttered.

"Hey!" Chip exclaimed. "I heard that!"

Xander cleared his throat. Everyone looked at him, and he began talking. "When we came in, she handed us the same staffs that Chip handed you—only ours had different symbols. It did the whole glowing thing, we got our tattoos, and she told us that we were Guardians. The end."

"So where is this woman? I'm not taking your word for anything," Vida scoffed.

Xander placed a hand on his chest. "Vida, that wounds me deeply," he said.

"I don't give a flying—"

"V!"

"Sorry, Mom."

Maddie paled. "Don't call me Mom," she snapped.

"I would stop if you didn't act like her!" Vida exclaimed.

"What is going on here?"

The five teenagers turned to see a woman with long red hair standing at the top of the steps. She was dressed in an all-white outfit, and, next to her, was a tan man with dark, curly hair. They walked down the steps and towards the table, looking expectantly at the three boys at the table.

"Oh. Hey, Udonna," Chip said. "We were just about to tell you that we found the last two Guardians."

The woman's face lit up. She gave them a wide smile and motioned for them to show their wrists.

The twins extended them and pulled back their sleeves, revealing their blue and pink tattoos. It wasn't glowing as much as before—it was now dully pulsing.

"This is fantastic," Udonna said. "How did you find them?"

"Chip found them," Nick said. "They're friends of his."

Chip shrugged his shoulders. "They came through the tree. That's how I knew."

"Wow," the older woman muttered. She stood straighter. "Then I guess this calls for an introduction. I'm Udonna, and this is my good friend Daggeron. Welcome to Rootcore."

"I'm Vida Rocca, and this is my sister Madison. We really need to be going," Vida said. She stood up and motioned for Maddie to get up as well.

Udonna's face fell. "Wait," she said, making both twins stop. "You can't leave."

"Why?" they asked in unison.

"Because we need your help," Udonna said.

Vida crossed her arms. "Explain," she demanded.

"Told you she was a bitch," Xander said. Vida turned around and glared at him, but he flashed a smile.

"We are the Light Court," Udonna said, drawing Vida's attention back to Udonna. Maddie was watching with rapt attention. She couldn't help but find this fascinating. "We've been waging war with the Dark Court for the past century—they've been trying to take over the human world for a long time, now."

"It sounds like something out of a bad soap opera," Vida declared.

"Vida, come on," Maddie said.

"You're not actually buying into this, are you?"

"Vida, we went through a tree. We suddenly have tattoos etched into our skin. I don't think we have a choice."

Vida was silent for a few moments. Finally, she sighed and ran a hand through her short hair before speaking. "Okay, fine. But there's one problem."

Maddie's brow furrowed. "What?"

"How are we going to tell Mom?"

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope you all liked this chapter. Again, it was important, but it was a bit of a filler. Review, please? **


	5. Building Trust

**Author's Note: I'm glad you all liked the last chapter. Thanks for the amazing reviews!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or Wicked Lovely.**

* * *

**Thirteen Years Ago**

_"I'm shocked," Dana said. She crossed her arms and watched her granddaughters as they shouldered their backpacks. _

_"Mother," Katherine said with a sigh. "Could we not right now? I'm trying to get the kids ready for school." _

_"I can't believe you're letting them go to pre-school," Dana muttered, "Let alone out of the house."_

_Katherine ran a hand through her hair and looked down at her daughters, giving a smile. "Why don't you two go out to the car?" she said._

_Vida and Madison chattered excitedly as they left the house and walked to the car. Katherine crossed her arms and turned to her mother. _

_"Mother, I don't need you to tell me 'I told you so.' I thought that they should at least get pre-school in. I'm not sure if I want them to go to elementary school yet."_

_Dana through her hands up in the air. "And here I thought we were making so much progress," she exclaimed as she walked into the kitchen. _

_Katherine rolled her eyes and walked out to the car. She made sure that Vida and Maddie were securely strapped into their car seat before shutting the door and moving to the driver's seat. She was about to open the door when something caught her eye. _

_She froze as the dark-haired man came into view. He stood across the street from them, at the corner. He was wearing jeans and a white button-down shirt that was rolled up to the elbows. But the one thing that stood out most was the faint glow of his skin. He crossed his arms and watched her as she watched him. _

_Katherine bit her lip and yanked the car door open. She looked away from him and slid into the seat. She gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. Finally, taking a deep breath, she turned on the car and pulled away from the curb._

* * *

"You go in first."

"No. You go in first."

"You."

"You."

"Age before beauty."

"Maddie, I'm five minutes older than you!"

"Which is exactly why you should go in."

"Maddie!"

"The older, the wiser."

"Are you going to throw every age saying at me?"

"Yes!"

Both twins simultaneously sighed and ran a hand through their hair. They crossed their arms and leaned against the wall.

"Are they always like this?" Nick asked in a quiet voice.

Chip snorted. "You haven't even seen the half of it."

"I heard that!" Vida exclaimed.

"What?" Chip shrugged his shoulders. "You two may be as close as PB and J, but you sure as hell argue a lot."

Vida clucked her tongue, but she didn't reply. Instead, she crossed her arms and turned to her sister. "Why don't we just go in together?"

Maddie shrugged her shoulders. "Fine by me." Together, the dark-haired twins slowly walked towards the kitchen, where their mother and grandmother were currently making dinner. They had decided that Xander, Chip, and Nick shouldn't go in, just in case their mother suspected anything.

Katherine looked up as she heard her daughter's footsteps. "Hello, you two," she said. "I was just about to call you. You know you shouldn't stay out past sunset."

"Hey, Mom," Maddie said. "We were actually going to have dinner with Chip tonight." Everyone had collectively decided they should stay the night in Rootcore—Maddie and Vida especially. They were going to spend the majority of the night doing "team-building exercises," as Udonna put it.

Katherine looked sharply at Maddie. "Are you sure?" she asked as she began to chop vegetables.

"Yeah," Vida said, answering for her sister. "We were going to spend the night there, too. We haven't seen Chip in a while."

Katherine sighed and put down her knife. She wiped her hand on a dishcloth and leaned against the counter. "You know how I feel about that."

"Oh, come on, Mom," Vida said. "We know the rules." Both Rocca twins felt their stomach tighten at those words. They knew the rules, and they were breaking said rules.

"I don't want you around Fairies," Katherine said in a low voice. It was almost as if she expected one to burst into the kitchen if she said it in a normal voice.

Maddie took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Mom, now that you mention it—" She stopped abruptly. Vida cleared her throat and nudged her. "About that—" Maddie stopped once again.

Katherine raised her eyebrows. "What are you trying to say, Madison?"

"Uh…" Maddie exhaled loudly. She found that she was gripping her wrist, her hand completely covering the blue tattoo that resided there. "We'll see you later."

Then she turned around and practically sprinted out of the kitchen.

* * *

"We are the worst daughters ever."

Vida crossed her arms and glared at her sister. "What do you mean, 'we?' I believe it was you who didn't tell her."

Maddie rolled her eyes. "If I remember correctly, you didn't say anything, either!"

Vida opened her mouth to respond, but Udonna stepped between the two arguing sisters.

"Okay," she said. "I think it's time to begin the team-building activities." She held up a white blindfold. "Madison, if you would," she said, gesturing to the space in front of her.

Maddie, looking slightly unsure, stood in front of Udonna. She wrapped the white blindfold around Maddie's head, effectively covering her eyes.

"Nick and Chip, could you please stand behind Maddie?" The red and yellow ranger took their places behind their friend, getting an idea of what they were going to have to do. "Xander? Vida?" Udonna pointed to the space in front of Maddie.

Once everyone was in their place, Udonna smiled. "Maddie, you're going to have to fall back or forward and let your teammates catch you."

Under the blindfold, Maddie raised her eyebrows. "I'm going to have to what?" she asked.

"Fall," Udonna repeated. "You have to learn to trust your teammates."

"Can't Chip do it first?"

Chip grimaced. "Thanks, Maddie."

Udonna let out a small laugh. "Sorry, Maddie. You're going to have to go first. Do you trust your teammates?"

Maddie huffed lightly. "That depends," she mumbled.

Even though she couldn't see him, Xander put his hand to his heart dramatically. "That's hurts deeply, Maddie," he said.

"You better catch me," Maddie said under her breath as she fell forward. She let out a sigh of relief as Xander and Vida caught her long before she was going to hit the floor. Bracing herself, Maddie began to fall backwards. Just as she was beginning to tip, she heard Daggeron's voice calling the rangers to him. She heard the footsteps as they walked away from her.

Maddie threw her arms out in an attempt to right her balance, but it was too late. She was going to hit the floor, and there was nothing she could do about.

Oh, was she going to kill them.

Suddenly, Maddie felt someone's arms wrap around her. She let her body relax and let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding in. Reaching one hand up, she pushed the blindfold up.

There was Nick, looking down at her.

He carefully righted her, keeping his arms wrapped around her. "Are you okay?" he asked, his eyes full of concern.

Maddie nodded her head, unable to say anything. Nick smiled at her, then dropped his arms and walked over to Daggeron.

Maddie took a deep breath. This was sure going to get interesting.

* * *

**Author's Note: I know a lot of you were looking forward to Vida and Maddie telling their mother, but I just couldn't do it yet! I hope that you all still liked it, though. Review, please?**


	6. Testing the Abilities

**Author's Note: I'm glad all of you liked the last chapter. In a review, someone mentioned that Maddie and Vida's traits were switched a little bit. I noticed that to—I hadn't meant for it to happen… it just kind of ended up being that way. I hope you don't mind it. Maddie will be more out-going, and, for right now, at least, Vida seems more reserved—but you'll find out why later in this chapter. Also, someone mentioned that they like that Maddie and Vida aren't all mushy-sister type. Sisters fight—they're not perfect. I'm glad you all like that. I hope you all like this chapter. Thanks for the amazing reviews! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or Wicked Lovely.**

* * *

**Twelve Years Ago**

_Katherine drummed her fingers on the table and looked down at the two forms in front of her. She stuck the tip of the pen into her mouth and sighed deeply. Why was this so hard? Shouldn't it be easier? It hadn't seemed to be a problem for her mother._

_With another sigh, she straightened the school registration forms sitting in front of her. She had been in the same place for the past half-hour, trying to bring herself to fill out the forms. So far, she had gotten their names, phone numbers, and addresses filled out. Beyond that, she wasn't sure what was going to happen._

_Katherine heard heavy footsteps as someone walked into the kitchen. Hastily, she shoved the forms into the clutter in the middle of the table, trying to look nonchalant. As soon as the person spoke, however, she knew her cover was blown._

_"Katherine, what are you doing?" Dana put her hands on her hips as she studied her daughter. The relationship between the two of them had become extremely strained since Madison and Vida had been born. She loved her grandchildren and daughter dearly, but she disapproved of how her daughter was handling the situation. Because of that, both mother and daughter were constantly at odds. _

_"Nothing, Mother," Katherine said coldly. "Why don't you take the girls to the park?"_

_Dana's eyebrow shot up. "We just came back from the park. Why don't you try again?"_

_Katherine sighed loudly and grabbed the papers. She crumpled them in her hand and stood up, pushing her chair in at the same time. "Then make lunch for them. I'm going upstairs."_

_"You're not a child anymore, Katherine!" Dana called behind her._

_Katherine couldn't suppress her eye roll as she climbed the stairs. She was twenty-five! She shouldn't have to worry about any of this. It wasn't ever in her plans to have children—she had barely even thought to fall in love._

_But here she was, now, with two daughters—and desperately in love. _

_Katherine shut the door of her bedroom behind her. She sat down at her desk and smoothed out the registration from. Grabbing a pen, she studied the forms for a few minutes. _

_Then she filled them out._

* * *

Vida rolled over. "I'm beginning to see a color pattern," she said as she tugged at her pink sleeping bag.

"I noticed," Maddie agreed.

"Why does it have to be pink?" Vida demanded.

"Give it a rest, Vida," Xander said from his corner. "It's just a color."

"No, it's not 'just a color!' Do you know what happened earlier? _My shirt turned pink_!"

Maddie turned on her side as she attempted to block out Vida's rant. She bent her legs and pulled the sleeping bag tighter around her. How was she going to tell her mom? Was she going to tell at all? All her life, she had been told that Fairies were terrible, horrible creatures. Now, she was just about one of them.

"You're a Guardian."

Maddie looked up and saw Nick standing over her. "What?" she asked.

Nick lifted his wrist, momentarily showing his red tattoo. Maddie looked down at her own, surprised to see there was a slight glow to it. It was a purple glow.

"The tattoos give us the ability to communicate with each other. We can also sometimes feel what another person if feeling, if the emotion is strong enough. We've had a little trouble with it and Xander. His mind isn't in the gutter. It _is_ the gutter."

Maddie chuckled and sat up. She bent her legs and rested her chin on her knees, her arms encircling them. "So you heard me, then? You heard me worry about it?"

"Yeah." Nick sat down next to her. "I don't know much about your mom, but you're not a Fairy. She's not going to kick you out of the house if she ever found out."

"Yes, but I'm associated with Fairies," Maddie said. "I'm their Guardian! How did we even get picked for this job?"

Nick shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. It just happened, I guess."  
Maddie sighed. "What will my mom say? All I've known about Fairies, everything about it—it seems like one big lie. I mean, they can't all be that bad if they need Guardians."

Nick nodded his head. "Exactly. I don't know how much you know about the Dark Court, but they're not exactly the friendliest Fairies. They've done some pretty terrible things to the Light Court, but Udonna won't tell us what they are or why they happened. All she said was that it was our job to help them."

Maddie ran a hand through her hair. This was all too much to take in one day. There had to be a way to get out of this, somehow. But Maddie was surprised to feel that she might not want to.

"There is no way to get out of it," Nick said.

Maddie smiled slightly. She had momentarily forgotten that he could hear her thoughts. That would take some getting used to. "Absolutely no way?"

Nick smiled. "None."

* * *

"Daggeron," Xander said, a slight whine to his voice, "It's too early to run!"

"Stop complaining, you big baby," Vida said.

Xander stuck his tongue out at her and made a face. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it you who threw that flashlight at him when he woke you up?"

Maddie made a slashing motion across her neck. "I'd shut up now, if I were you."

"That's a wise piece of advice, Maddie," Chip said as he stretched his arms above his head. "Vida isn't a morning person, Xand. She might rip your head off." He looked back at the pink ranger, and she looked as if she was ready to blow steam. "Literally."

"About a mile away from here there will be five flags. Each has your color on it. Get it and come back," Daggeron instructed.

"Do we have to run back?" Maddie asked. Sure, she could run a mile. But running one back? Yeah, that was a good one.

"Yes," Daggeron said. "Just trust yourself. You'll find that you'll be able to do things now that you weren't able to do before."

Before any of the rangers could contemplate what that could possibly mean, he told them to go. They took off, starting at a slow pace.

About half a mile in, Maddie found that she wasn't tired at all. As a test, she kicked up her slow pace a little. Soon enough, she had reached the flag. Nick had already grabbed his flag, and Xander was in the midst of grabbing his.

"Hey, Xander!" Maddie yelled as she snatched her flag up. She turned on her heel and ran as hard as she could away from it.

"Hey!" she heard Xander yell behind her. Suddenly, he was next to her. Their feet pounded into the ground as they ran. They could soon see Nick ahead of them, and they caught up with him. Their flags flapped out behind them as they gripped them tightly.

And then Chip and Vida had caught up to them, and they ran the remaining distance in a straight line. When they stopped in front of Daggeron, the found that they weren't tired at all. They were even panting.

"That was _so awesome_!" Chip yelled.

"How the hell were we able to do that?" Nick asked.

"Why couldn't we beat each other?" Xander asked. "I tried so hard to pass Maddie, but I just couldn't do it."

Daggeron smiled. "Since you're Guardians now, Fairies have given you powers that you couldn't possibly dream of. Along with super speed and super strength, each of you has an affinity for an element. Also, you'll find that you'll be able to fight better then you have before."

"Affinity? What are our affinities?" Chip asked, practically beside himself with excitement. Super powers? There could be nothing better than that!

Daggeron chuckled. "Chip, yours is lightning. Vida, yours is Wind. Xander, yours is earth. Nick, yours is fire, and Maddie, yours is water."

"Tell me, what does pink have to do with wind?" Vida demanded. "Everyone else's color matches their power, but mind doesn't!"

"Vida, please," Maddie said.

"No, don't you 'Vida, please' me! I hate pink!"

"Vida, let it go!" Xander bellowed. "This is getting old. Your color is pink. Live with it!"

Xander stalked away. Vida gaped at his retreating form for a few moments before glaring and walking off in the opposite direction.

Chip, Nick, and Maddie exchanged glances.

"Sexual tension," they said in unison.

* * *

**Author's Note: I really hope you liked this chapter. This explained a little bit. Also, what do you think of the flashbacks? No one has really commented on them, so I was wondering what everyone thought. Review, please? **


	7. The First Official Day

**Author's Note: I'm glad you all liked the last chapter. To be completely honest, I can go both ways with Vida/Xander or Vida/Chip. In this story, I'm already playing up on the Vida/Xander thing, so I think they will definitely be a couple. I wanna say that Chip and Claire will be a couple, but they didn't have much interaction in the show. And, of course, the main couple will be Nick and Maddie. Thanks for all of the amazing reviews, too. I hope you all like this chapter!  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or Wicked Lovely.**

* * *

**Eleven Years Ago**

_Katherine yawned and stretched her arms over her head. Who in the world would be knocking on the door this late at night?_

_She looked over at the clock, mentally correcting herself: this early in the morning. It was two o'clock! She didn't even know why she was up this early. _

_Katherine pulled her robe tighter around her, careful not to make too much noise. She didn't want to wake up her daughters… or worse, her mother. _

_She pulled open the door, ready to tell the person to get the hell off her porch, but she stopped when she saw who it was. Her jaw fell open and she stood, frozen, in the doorway. _

_He smiled at her—a warm, forgiving smile. But he shouldn't be the one forgiving her. It should be the other way around!"_

_"Hello, Katherine," he said. _

_Katherine's mouth opened and closed a few times. Finally, she found her voice. "What… what are you doing here?" she demanded, trying to force strength into her voice. But she had to admit that she was afraid… and, at the same time, the old feeling of love rushed into her. Shaking her head, she pushed the feeling away._

_"I'm here to see them," he said simply. _

_"No." Katherine furiously shook her head. "You can't see them." She moved to shut the door, but his hand shot out and kept the door open. Katherine mentally cursed herself. She should have remembered—they weren't normal._

_"I deserve to see them," he said. "They're my daughters, as well." When Katherine said nothing, he sighed. "I didn't want to have to do this, but I guess I'm forced to. I'll take you to court, if I have to."_

_Katherine tilted her head back and let out a humorless, barking laugh. "And say what? I'm keeping my daughters from their father because he's a monster?" _

_His face darkened over. "I'm not a monster," he said. "If anything, you're the one who is the monster." _

_This threw Katherine off. "What do you mean?" she demanded, now truly pissed off. _

_"I did nothing to you, Katherine," he said. "You're the one who accused me! All I ever did was love you—"_

_"NO!" Katherine yelled, backing away. "You didn't love me. You never loved me. You seduced me! You tricked me!"_

_"There you go again!" he said, cutting across her. "These accusations—they're absolutely ridiculous!" _

_Once again, Katherine couldn't find her voice. Her mouth kept on opening and closing, until, finally, she said something._

_"You're ridiculous!" she sneered._

_He shook his head. "One day," he muttered. "One day, Katherine, you'll open your eyes and see that I never did anything to you. You caused yourself to have all of this pain."_

_Katherine could feel herself weakening. So she did the only thing she could do._

_She shut the door in his face._

* * *

"First day back to school," Chip said. "We're seniors!"

"It's going to be great," Maddie agreed.

"Humph," Vida grunted.

Maddie shook her head and chuckled while Chip looked confused. "What's her problem?" Chip asked.

"She's still upset with Xander," Maddie said.

"I am not!" Vida exclaimed suddenly.

Chip grinned. "Of course you're not."

"He's a jackass," Vida mumbled. "I refuse to feel any emotions, anger or otherwise, for him."

Chip leaned over so he could whisper loudly in Maddie's ear. "Too late," he said, looking like he enjoyed the look of enragement on Vida's face.

"Chip Thorn, I swear, if you make one more crack about—"

"Crack about what?" Xander asked as he and Nick joined them. "About your hair? That yellow streak is looking pretty nasty, V."

"Green was the only color I had left," Vida said stubbornly. "And don't call me V!"

"Why not?" Xander asked. Maddie chuckled and shook her head. He knew exactly why not. He just enjoyed pushing Vida's buttons too much.

"Because only my friends can call me that!"

"Alright," Maddie said, deciding she should intervene. "V, go to your happy place and count to ten. You," she said, turning to Xander. "You just… go look in a mirror, or something."

"Maddie!" Xander exclaimed in an over-dramatic voice. "What's with insults?"

"You know I'm just kidding," Maddie said, feeling a little guilty for her cracks at Xander. Suddenly, she felt a warmth on her left wrist, and she felt a flash of anger wash over her. A thin film of red clouded her vision for a moment, causing her to stop in her tracks. She shook her head. Once her vision was clear, she had noticed that Nick, Chip, and Xander had stopped in their tracks as well.

She saw a blue glow out of the corner of her eye. Looking down, she saw that her tattoo was glowing a bright multitude of blue, red, yellow, pink, and green. She clamped her hand of her wrist and rushed to Vida, who had stalked several feet ahead of them.

"Vida, you have to calm down," Maddie whispered urgently. She was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, and she didn't have a sweater. She was going to have a problem covering the tattoo.

"Why?" Vida demanded.

Maddie looked around the crowded hallway to make sure no one was paying too much attention to them. Then she held out her wrist and looked pointedly at Vida.

"We can feel each other's strong emotions," Maddie said. "Nick explained it to me over the weekend. You're going to have to learn to control your anger, V. We can't afford to get caught with glowing wrists."

"I'm sorry," Vida mumbled. "He just angers me so much!"

"And what were you saying a minute ago?" Maddie said. She didn't mean to provoke her sister, even though that was exactly what she was doing. "You said that you wouldn't let yourself feel any emotions for him. Now why don't you tell me what's really going on before the guys come up here?"

Vida sighed loudly and blew her bangs out of her face. "Fine," she mumbled finally. "I like Xander, okay?"

Maddie let out a yelp of satisfaction. Vida shoved her hand over her mouth and glanced down at the hall, towards the guys. They had glanced weirdly at Maddie, but had otherwise had no reaction to it.

"I knew it!" Maddie exclaimed in a whisper-yell when Vida had let her go.

"He doesn't like me," Vida said dejectedly. "It's just much easier to make fun of him, but then he comes back at me with his own, and it just makes me so angry!"

"Vida," Maddie said, truly a little shocked. "I didn't know that you could be so nervous around a boy."

"Xander isn't just a boy to me," Vida said. "He's a boy that actually has the guts to make fun of me, and that means something."

"In a weird, twisted way," Maddie added.

"Yeah," Vida said as she cracked a smile.

Maddie smiled and shook her head. As she did so, she noticed the guys coming towards them out of the corner of her eye. "Well, I guess now is the time to stop talking about it. They're coming."

Vida nodded her head and quickly composed herself. She smiled a little uneasily at the guys. "Sorry about that. My temper got a little out of control."

"You think?" Xander said. Then he scowled as he was simultaneously nudged by Chip, Nick, and Maddie.

Nick held out his wrist. "The glowing faded, so I guess you're feeling better."

"The tattoos returned to their normal color, too," Chip added. "Way to let your head go, V."

Vida shrugged her shoulders in a 'so what?' motion. "Oh well," she said. "Now who's ready to go to history?"

* * *

"Our first day back," Maddie said as she sat down, "and already, I have an essay to write and an article to annotate."

"That's what you get for taking AP classes, sis," Vida said. She handed Maddie a cheeseburger and an iced tea. Maddie smiled in thanks and quickly unwrapped the burger, readily taking a huge bite out of it. She was always ridiculously hungry when it got time to go to lunch.

"Somebody's hungry," Chip said as he took a seat.

"Look who's talking," Maddie said as she gestured to Chip's overflowing tray. He had two cheeseburgers, a container of fries, two pieces of pie, a side salad, a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich, and an assortment of condiments.

"There's nothing healthy on that tray," Vida said.

"Ha! Don't make me laugh V," Chip said. "You're the queen of unhealthy food. And besides." He smugly pointed to the side salad. "That's green, and it's healthy."

"Yeah, but knowing you, you're probably going to put something completely disgusting on it," Vida said, throwing a disgusted look at the condiments.

"Don't knock it until you've tried it."

"Can we knock it if we've smelled it?" Maddie asked with a laugh.

Chip made a face at her and stuck his tongue out. Vida and Maddie laughed as Xander and Nick sat down at the table.

When the laughter had died down, Maddie took a sip of her iced tea. Once she had swallowed, she looked at Nick. "How is your first day going so far?" she asked.

Nick smiled. "It's going pretty well. It's a good thing I have you in all of my classes so far, though. It makes things easier."

Maddie smiled, and light blush tinged her cheeks. "No problem," she said.

Vida raised her eyebrows and nudged Maddie in the ribs. Maddie glared at her and nudged her back. However, their exchange hadn't been as secretive as they would have liked.

"What are they doing?" Nick asked, clearly confused.

Chip waved his hand. "Twin stuff," he said. "You get used to it after a while."

"When you two want to stop communicating in twin telepathy and join us, just let us know," Nick said with a laugh.

* * *

A few hours later, their first day of school was over. They were making their way out to the buses, when, suddenly, there was a loud crash.

Already, their reflexes had gotten much better. Nick, Maddie, Vida, Xander, and Chip whipped around, turning directly to the source of the noise.

A woman was walking towards them. She was dressed in stiff black leather and had short red hair. Her skin was pale, but at the same time, it seemed to glow. Her eyes were red, making a huge contrast with her skin. She smiled at them, showing perfectly straight, perfectly white, sharply pointed teeth.

"Hello, Rangers."

* * *

**Author's Note: Yeah, not the best cliffhanger, I know. But I hope the chapter was okay. I'm sorry that I changed Necrolai's appearance, but I need to in order to fit the theme of the book. This is also the first time you got a specific mention of Vida and Maddie's father. What did you think of that? I enjoy reading what you all think. It makes me think of what to write in the next chapter. If anyone had any suggestions, that would be great, as well. Of course, you would get credit if I used any of your suggestions. Again, I hope that you all liked this chapter. Review, please?**


	8. Mysteries

**Author's Note: I'm glad that you all liked the last chapter. Thank you for all of the amazing reviews! Also, let's pretend that the Hidiacs are a lot uglier. For example, (and this is how I picture them in this story), **_**Lord of the Rings**_** Orcs ugly. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, **_**Lord of the Rings**_**, or **_**Wicked Lovely**_**.**

* * *

**Ten Years Ago**

_"Vida, Mommy will get so mad at us," Maddie whispered._

_"Mommy won't get mad at you," Vida said stubbornly. "And she won't get mad at me when she sees what a good job I've done."_

_"V, it's uneven," the seven-year old said. Her voice now had more confidence. Making her mother angry was one of her worst fears. Their mother had always been so careful with them, and had given them so many rules—especially about the weird people they saw every day._

_Vida handed Maddie a pair of scissors. "Then why don't you fix it?" she said._

_Maddie gaped at her sister. "I'm seven!" she exclaimed. "I can't hair!" _

_Vida gave her sister a smug smile. "I cut it."_

_"And we all know how well that turned out." _

_The sides of Vida's hair were short, up to her ears. The back, however, reached her shoulders. Vida couldn't reach all the way around, but she had managed to cut some of her long hair off. Half of her bangs were short, the other half still the old length of Vida's long hair. It reached a little past her waist, and Vida tugged at it, a sign that she was nervous—no matter what she said. _

_"Please, Maddie? I need you to cut the back!" _

_"I'll only cut the back if you let me fix your bangs."_

_"Why? I think they look cool." Vida tugged at the long strands of hair and smiled at Maddie. Maddie rolled her eyes, took the hair in between her fingers, and chopped it off. It fell to the ground, adding to the large pile of raven hair at their feet._

_"Maddie!" Vida whined. "You ruined it!" _

_"It was already ruined," Maddie said. "Now stay still. I don't want to cut you."_

_"You won't cut me," Vida said. "Just make it look even." _

_"I'll try."_

_Halfway through cutting it, the door to the bathroom opened. Vida and Maddie looked at each other. _

_"I thought you locked the door," Maddie whispered._

_"I thought I did, too!" Vida said. _

_Katherine peeked in. "What are you two do—" She stopped and looked down at the floor. Then she looked up at her daughters, her eyes wide. Maddie was holding the scissors to Vida's hair, about to cut another chunk of it off. "What did you do?" she yelled._

_"Mommy, I just wanted to cut my hair!" Vida said._

_Katherine took a deep breath. Finally, she held out her hand. "Come on, we're going to get your hair cut properly. Now."_

_Maddie looked up at her mother, her large doe eyes wide. "Mommy, can I least finish making it even?"_

* * *

_"It's good to be out of the house," Dana said._

_"Mother, I hadn't realized you'd be tagging along," Katherine said. Her arms were crossed, and she was stiff as they walked through the park. Up ahead, Vida and Maddie ran all around, happy to be outside. _

_"And miss my granddaughters first hair cut in years? I don't think so," Dana replied. _

_Katherine made a huffing noise. The hairdresser had layered Vida's hair and had given her bangs. It made her now short hair look acceptable, but Katherine still wasn't happy._

_"I liked it longer," she said._

_"I like it short," Dana said at the same time. Mother and daughter looked at each other, and then looked away._

_Katherine sighed and looked around the park. She watched all of the happy families and their friends, having picnics and birthday parties. Then her eyes fell on a couple sitting on a bench._

_She hadn't seen him since she slammed the door in his face a year ago. He was sitting next to a red-headed woman with long hair. She was dressed in black jeans and a black t-shirt, and she kept scooting closer to him on the bench. _

_He smiled at her and touched her shoulder. Katherine shook her head, trying to make herself look away, but she couldn't. Then the red-headed woman leaned over and gave him a passionate kiss. He responded enthusiastically. _

_Vida and Maddie had come close to the couple, but they seemed oblivious to their display. Katherine caught up to her daughters and took their hands._

_"Come on," she said in a loud voice. The couple broke apart, and Katherine felt herself smile. "I thought this was a family park."_

_He was staring at her, his mouth wide-open in shock. Katherine flipped her short hair back and gave him a smile before leaving._

* * *

"Who the hell are you?" Nick demanded, immediately taking on the roll of leader. It suited him well, Maddie noticed.

The woman let out a barking, humorless laugh. "I'm surprised you don't know who I am. They didn't tell you?" She laughed again. "That is _so_ like him."

Vida rolled her eyes. "Well, why don't you save us the introduction and we'll just cut to the part where we kick your ass?"

Maddie smiled. There was the old Vida.

The woman's face darkened. "I know you two," she said gesturing to Vida and Maddie.

Maddie's and Vida's brows furrowed as a look of identical confusion passed over them. "How?" Maddie asked.

"It's because of you!" the woman shrieked. "Because of you, I couldn't be happy!"

"What the hell?" Vida and Maddie said in unison. But before they could say anything else, the woman launched herself at them.

Maddie raised her arms above her head, blocking a blow the face. Vida spun out of the way as she kicked out at the same time. The twins were surprised to see how natural the moves were as they ducked and dodged vicious hits.

"We're not getting anywhere!" Vida yelled as she bent backwards, avoiding a blow to her stomach. The woman's foot went over Vida's head, and then she brought her foot down. Vida dropped to the ground and rolled away from her.

Maddie pulled her fist back and landed a solid punch to the woman's cheek. She whipped around, her red eyes flashing dangerously. Despite the fact that Maddie had just landed one of the best punches she had ever given, she walked backwards, her hands held up.

"You shouldn't have done that," the woman hissed.

She went down and swung her foot forward, knocking Maddie's feet out from under her. Maddie went down, flat on her back. The woman stood above her, and Maddie quickly scrambled to her feet.

She managed to block another blow to the face, but then the woman swung her other fist at Maddie, hitting her just under the eye. Maddie stumbled backwards from the force of the blow. The woman ran forward, but Maddie recovered from the blow and kicked her in the stomach.

The woman looked up after she had recovered. She smiled wickedly at them.

"Another time, Rangers," she said, before disappearing in a flash of purple.

Maddie ducked her head and leaned over, her palms pressing onto her knees. All of the sudden, she was exhausted. Breathing heavily, Maddie stood up again.

"Where were you guys?" she asked, looking over at Nick, Chip, and Xander. "And what happened to you?" she asked Vida.

"They had some freaking weird foot soldiers," Vida said.

"It was awesome!" Chip exclaimed.

Ignoring him, Maddie looked around. The bodies of what looked like zombies were strewn everywhere. Some of them were missing limbs, others were missing heads. Some were still twitching, as if they were going to jump back up and start fighting again.

"What are they?" Maddie asked.

Nick shook his head. "I have no idea. They're not very tough, though."

"What do you mean?" Maddie asked. She had been too busy worrying about that woman. She hadn't realized that there had been more fighting going on around her.

"A good blow to the head more or less beheads them," Xander said. He kicked one of their heads away, a look of disgust on his face.

"We need to get rid of them," Nick said. "There are a lot of people around."

"Oh shit," Vida said.

"There can't be people around!" Maddie exclaimed. "What if one of them tells Mom that we were fighting?"

"I don't think so," Chip said.

"Why not?" Vida and Maddie demanded in unison.

"Because, no offense, or anything, your mom doesn't really have any friends. And she doesn't watch T.V., right?"

"You can See Fairies on T.V.," Maddie said. "They're everywhere."

"Yeah, I know," Chip said. "We can See them now! It's awesome!"

"Chip, let's get back on topic," Vida said.

"Right. There is no way she'll hear about this. And if she does, play dumb. You don't know anything."

"Is it that easy?" Maddie asked, clearly skeptical.

"It should be." Chip looked around, taking the foot soldiers in one more time. "I'll go get Udonna and Daggeron. They'll know what to do." He took off quickly, almost becoming a yellow blur.

"Maddie," Nick said. Maddie turned to look at him, but he surprised her by darting in front of her. He touched the patch of skin under her eye, the pads of his thumbs rubbing gently across the skin. Maddie fought the urge to shiver from how close he was.

"We should really get some ice for your eye," he said.

* * *

Maddie winced as she looked in the mirror. The skin under her eye had turned an ugly purple-blue. She touched it gingerly, and then winced again.

"Here," Udonna said. She held out a piece of raw meat wrapped in a cloth. Maddie looked at the piece of meat, then up at Udonna. She didn't mean to be rude, but… raw meat? It was a bit unusual to still use that, wasn't it?

"We don't have ice," Udonna said. "This is the best I can do. As of right now, we don't have any healing balm. Claire, my apprentice, is out getting the ingredients right now."

At that moment, Daggeron, Nick, Chip, and Xander walked back in. They had gone to clear up the rest of the foot soldiers, and it had only taken them a few minutes.

"We cleared the rest of them up," Daggeron said. He turned to the rangers, who were now sitting around the table, each one of them at their symbol. "Now, why don't you tell us who—or what—attacked you?"

"It was a woman," Maddie said.

"A bitch of a woman," Vida added.

"She screamed at us for a bit, and then launched herself at Vida and Maddie," Xander said. "Then some of her weird foot soldier things showed up."

"Maddie and Vida fought the woman," Nick said. "And we took on the soldiers."

"Then, after Maddie punched the woman, Vida started helping us with the soldiers. The woman only seemed to go after Maddie after that."

"It was a pretty decent punch," Nick said.

Maddie smiled, but touched her face once again. She had paid for that 'pretty decent punch.' "I think she would have gone after Vida when she was done with me, though," Maddie added.

Udonna had a look of worry on her face. She seemed almost afraid to ask the next question. "Who was the woman?" she asked.

"She was dressed in all black—" Maddie began.

"And had short red hair," Vida finished.

"I can't believe her!" Daggeron exploded.

The five Rangers winced as he yelled and paced the room. "Daggeron," Udonna said in a soothing voice. "You mustn't—"

"Udonna, she went against us!" Daggeron yelled. "That hag went against us!"

The teenagers openly gaped at Daggeron. In the short time they had known him, they had never heard him speak like that about anyone.

Daggeron turned towards the Rangers. "Her name is Necrolai," he said. "And she is a horrible hag." He turned on his heel and stalked out angrily.

The remained silent for a few moments.

"Well," Vida finally said. "That went well."

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope you liked this chapter. I finally got some action in this story, and I hope it wasn't horrible. That was the first real fight scene I had ever written. Review, please?  
**


	9. Taking Advantage of the Situation

**Author's Note: Thanks for all of the amazing reviews. I'm glad you all like this story so much!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or **_**Wicked Lovely**_**.**

* * *

**Nine Years Ago**

_"Come on! Stop bothering me!"_

_Maddie swatted her hand at the Bone Fairy in an attempt to push it away. It backed away, then swooped in again, tugging on her hair, pulling on her book bag, making her stumble—it was annoying, and it had her angry and scared. _

_Vida was sick today, so that meant that her grandma had to take care of her, and her mother was going out to a job interview, so that left Maddie to walk to school by herself. _

_She was beginning to regret that decision. _

_She let out a frustrated sigh as the Bone Fairy pulled on her hair again. She whipped around, her book bag swinging wildly behind her. _

_"Leave me alone!" she yelled, causing the people on the street to turned and look at her._

_"Madison Elizabeth Rocca!" _

_Maddie winced. Even as an eight year old, she knew to be afraid of that voice. She slowly turned around to see her mother coming out of her car and storming up to her. She bit her lip and looked up at Katherine, her doe eyes wide._

_"Don't think that look will work on me!" Katherine said. She put her hand on her youngest daughter's back and pushed her into the house. _

_"Mommy!" Maddie exclaimed. She jumped into defending herself. "It was bothering me! It wouldn't stop hurting me!" She showed Katherine her arm, which was red with irritation from the Bone Fairy's earlier flicking. _

_"I don't care, Madison!" Katherine said. "There are rules that you have to follow!" _

_"I know," Maddie said in a quiet voice. _

_"And which one did you just break?"_

_"I can't acknowledge them." _

_Katherine nodded her head. "Exactly. Now go upstairs and start on your homework. You don't get to play with Chip after school."_

_Maddie dropped her head and turned to walk up the stairs. Katherine crossed her arms and looked towards the kitchen. She saw Dana standing there. _

_Dana shook her head and walked away._

_"What?" Katherine called after her mother._

* * *

Maddie rubbed a hand over her face. As if she didn't feel bad enough, her mother was insisting that she, Vida, and their grandmother go out for dinner tonight. They couldn't, not tonight. They were going to have dinner with Udonna, Daggeron, and the rest of the rangers.

The last week of training had been particularly brutal. Daggeron had been training them long and hard since their run-in with Necrolai.

Maddie pulled on her jacket in the foyer. Vida had taken the easy way out, of course. She had told their mother that she was studying for a project and had to spend the night at a friend's house. Maddie rolled her eyes at the thought.

She stood with her hand on the doorknob, contemplating leaving without telling her mother. Could she do it? Could she get away with it? She bit her lip and began to slowly turn the doorknob. She inched the door open just enough for her to slip out. She went to move out the door, when, suddenly, someone walked into the hall.

"Madison Elizabeth Rocca! What do you think you're doing?"

Maddie winced when she heard her mother's voice. She didn't let go of the door, however, when her mother came into view.

"What do you think you're doing?" Katherine repeated.

"I was… I was just…" Maddie trailed off. There was no way to cover up what she had been trying to do. Her mother knew it, she knew it, and pretty soon Briarwood was going to know it if she kept the door open any longer. Even so, she didn't shut it.

"You were just…" Katherine said, a mocking lilt to her voice.

Maddie raised an eyebrow. This was her mother? "I was just going out," Maddie said, her voice stronger.

"Going out where?"

"With friends."

"Which friends?"

"Does it matter?"

"As a matter of fact, it does. Now why don't you tell me?"

Maddie glanced out onto the street, wishing desperately for something to pop out of thin air. Just as she was about to shut the door, however, someone caught her eye.

Nick.

She fought the urge to yelp in excitement as she reached out and grabbed a hold of Nick's jacket. His hands latched onto her wrists, ready to pull her over her shoulder, but Maddie spoke before he could.

"Nick," she hissed. "It's me."

"Maddie?" Nick asked in surprise. "What are you—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Maddie pulled him into the house. He looked disoriented as he regained his footing in the Rocca's foyer. He was wearing khakis and a gray sweater and a red belt. Maddie breathed a silent sigh of relief when she saw that he was dressed in a semi-presentable way.

"This is Nick Russell, Mom," Maddie said. "He's taking me out tonight."

"He is?" Katherine asked. Nick opened his mouth, but Maddie stomped on his foot and smiled at him. Nick nodded his head slightly and smiled charmingly at Katherine.

Katherine crossed her arms. "Well, then—"

"Thanks, Mom!" Maddie said, not waiting for Katherine to finish her sentence. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"But—"

Maddie dragged Nick out the door before she could hear another word. They were out on the street, and Maddie wrapped her hand around Nick's, knowing that her mother was still watching them. Nick automatically adjusted his hand so hers fit more comfortably in his.

"I'm taking you out?" Nick asked, as his eyebrow shot up.

Maddie laughed nervously. "Sorry about that. I just needed a way to get out so we could all have dinner tonight. I'm sorry I pulled you into it."

"I guess it's okay," Nick said. "I would have liked to have known about the fact that we were going out tonight, though." He raised their linked hands.

Once again, Maddie chuckled nervously. She tried to pull her hand out of Nicks, realizing that they were still linked together. But Nick wouldn't let go of her hand. She felt her wrist pulsing slightly and looked down at her tattoo. It was glowing a dull purple. Looking at Nick's, she saw its faint glow as well.

Blushing, Maddie looked down at the road. Their hands were still linked as they walked forward.

* * *

"Thank you for having us over for dinner," Maddie said. "The food was great."

"It's no trouble at all," Udonna said. "I'm glad we can get to know you without having to train you."

"You know," Vida said pointedly. She looked at Daggeron. "Training has been a downright bitch, lately."

"I'm just trying to teach you how to defend yourself," Daggeron said. His tone was defensive as he spoke.

"And I'm just trying to point out that this sucks," Vida replied. "We've been going over the basics for a week now. I think we know them."

Daggeron raised an eyebrow. "What are you trying to say, Vida?"

"I'm saying that I think we should learn harder things. We're not going to defeat Necrolai by sitting here and doing nothing. We have to learn complicated moves! Moves that will bring her ass down!"

"You'll get there," Daggeron assured the restless pink ranger. "Right now, we have to make absolutely sure that you have the basics down."

"_How_?"

Daggeron shrugged his shoulders. "Your next fight I suppose. There really is no sure way to tell fighting against each other. We'll see you how you fair during a real fight."

"Should we, though?" Maddie asked, worried. "Some of us are still feeling our last fight." She touched the area under her eyes. It had now faded to a lovely yellow-green. How wonderful.

"You're going to feel a lot of fights," Daggeron said. "You'll learn to build up strength against them, though. Don't worry. The more we train, the more your resistance will be built up."

"It's okay Maddie," Xander said as he slung an arm around her shoulders. "We have got your back."

Maddie rolled her eyes playfully. "Oh, dear lord!" she said in an overly-dramatic voice. "Help me!"

Xander made a face. "Thanks. Why don't you twist the knife deeper?"

Udonna chuckled and stood up. "Why don't we do some more trust-building exercises?"

Now it was Maddie's turn to make a face. "I don't think that's such a good idea. Remember what happened last time?" A blush rose to her cheeks just thinking about it. Nick's arms wrapped securely around her…

"Well, maybe not exercises like that," Udonna said with another chuckle.

"What do you mean then?" Nick asked curiously.

"Something with magic?" Chip questioned eagerly.

Udonna looked at the clock, then sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry. Actually, now isn't the best time. We'll work on this later. I have someone I want you all to meet, though."

"Who?" the five rangers chorused.

As if on cue, a strange, unfamiliar, male voice called out "Udonna?"

The older woman smiled widely. She walked down the steps, her arms held wide open.

"Leanbow," she said.

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, I hope you all liked this chapter. I liked writing the part with Nick and Maddie, personally! Review, please? Also, I don't know how much of you like **_**Twilight**_**, but if you any of you do, please check out my new **_**Twilight**_** fic. It's the first time I've tried writing a **_**Twilight**_** fic, and I don't know what kind of response I'll get. I'm always nervous, trying out new categories—especially with something like **_**Twilight**_**. Thanks!**


	10. Coming Together

**Author's Note: I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while. I hope you all like this chapter, though! Thank you for all of the amazing reviews.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or Wicked Lovely.**

* * *

**Eight Years Ago**

_Vida picked at the mud on her sneaker. Her mother had told her that she had to go with Maddie while she went to the library. The older Rocca twin let out an annoyed sigh. If they were old enough to walk to the library, why couldn't Maddie go along? Vida herself wasn't exactly a firm believer in the buddy system…_

_Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the sight of a Fairy. She tensed and pressed herself closer to the bench behind her. This wasn't like any Fairy she had ever seen before. A dark, almost smoky aura clung to it. It was a red-head woman clad in all black. She turned around and smirked at Vida, catching her eye._

_Vida felt her breath catch in her throat. There weren't too many things that scared her—but Fairies were at the top of the "things that scare Vida list." All they ever did was both humans. The worst part was, she couldn't punch them or do anything else to defend herself. And it scared, that she was so defenseless._

_The Fairy walked closer to her. Vida squeezed her eyes shut and lifted her hands to her face, covering her eyes with her fingers._

_"You're dreaming. You're just dreaming," Vida chanted. "The Fairy will go away. It's not there."_

_She peeked out between her fingers and suddenly felt like she was going to cry as the Fairy stopped in front of her bench._

_"Hello," the Fairy said._

_Vida said nothing and concentrated on the area behind the Fairy._

_The Fairy scowled. "I know you can see me." She reached forward and knocked Vida's head lightly with her palm. "Come on, little human. Let's play a game."_

_Vida could feel her eyes narrow. She tried her hardest not to let her emotions—fear, anger—pass over her face. The wind picked up around them, whipping the woman's red hair around her._

_"Don't you want to know what the game is?" the Fairy asked. She pinched Vida's arm._

_Vida could feel the anger building in her. She clenched her fists at her side and bit her lip. The wind moved faster and faster around them, causing people to duck their heads down as they walked towards their destinations._

_"The game is called 'Find Your Daddy.'"_

_That did it. Vida's anger bubbled over as a huge gust of wind knocked the Fairy out of the way. Vida stared in shock at the Fairy that laid on the ground before she jumped up and ran into the library. She wasn't going to leave until she knew that the Fairy was gone._

* * *

The man standing in front of them had gray hair and very, very tan skin. His eyes were a bright blue and he was wearing something similar to Daggeron, only in light tans and whites. He embraced Udonna tightly and whispered something in her ear. The red-headed woman's skin went pink with embarrassment. The five teenagers exchanged questioning looks.

Daggeron was staring at him with an open mouth. "Leanbow?" he asked.

The man pulled away from Udonna. "Daggeron, it has been too long, my friend."

The two men walked towards each other and clasped each other's forearms. They grinned at each other.

"It's been two very long months," Daggeron agreed. "I assume you have it?"

"I would not be here if I did not," Leanbow said. He looked over his shoulder and smiled at Udonna. "I am just glad to be back."

"As am I," Udonna said. "Rangers, I'd like you to meet someone. This is Leanbow, my husband."

The five ranger's eyes went wide and their mouths appeared to drop open even more. "Husband?" they all chorused. Udonna had a _husband_?

Udonna laughed lightly. "Yes, husband," she said.

Chip was the first to recover. "You never told us that you had a husband," he said, ever the blunt one.

Vida stomped on his foot. Chip leapt up on his other foot and scowled at Vida as he rubbed his sore foot.

"He was on a mission to retrieve something of great importance to us," Udonna said. "I wasn't sure when he was going to be back."

"What did he get?" Xander asked.

Leanbow was now holding a large, dusty book in his hands. "This is the Xenotome," he said. "It tells the story of the Ancients—your ancestors—and also has many spells and potions that will come in use later in your journey."

Maddie held out her hands. "May I see it?" she asked.

"Of course you can, child," Leanbow said. He smiled and handed it to her.

Maddie placed it carefully on the round table in the middle of the room. She opened the book and began to flip through the pages.

"What language is this written in?" she asked. "It's unlike anything I've ever seen."

"It's written in the Ancient language—Fairy language," Udonna said. "It appears that this is just something to introduce the book."

"I know," Maddie said. She looked up at the confused expressions on her teammates faces. "What I mean is, I can read it."

"You can?" Nick asked. He walked up behind Maddie and placed his hand behind her, on her other side. His head came up over her shoulder as he looked at the book, his eyes scanning the words.

"Damn," he said a few moments later. He shifted his weight, and Maddie exhaled slowly. She hadn't even realized that she was holding her breath. "I can read it, too."

"Your powers are developing nicely," Udonna said.

"But your physical powers are somewhat lacking," Daggeron said. "I still don't think that you're ready to learn harder moves."

"But why?" Vida complained, a slight whine to her voice. "How are we going to kick ass if we don't know how to fight at our opponent's level?"

"When you master the basics—"

"Then we learn more," Vida finished. She waved her hand impatiently. "I know."

"Why don't we do introductions?" Udonna asked. As always, she was smoothing everything over.

"Why don't we?" Daggeron agreed. "Chip, if you would?"

Chip grasped Leanbow's hand and pumped it excitedly. "Chip Thorn, yellow ranger. It's so cool to meet you, Sir. You're so awesome! I mean, the only people that I know who do magic are Daggeron, Udonna, and the rest of the rangers, and that's not to say that they aren't cool, because they are, but it's just that much more awesome meeting another person—"

"Alright, Chip," Xander in a good-natured, teasing way. "Don't talk the man's ear off." He shook Leanbow's hand as well. "Xander Bly, green ranger."

"Vida Rocca, pink ranger." She said her color in a disgruntled voice, her brow furrowed. She still wasn't happy with her color.

Maddie smiled at the older man. "Madison Rocca, blue ranger."

Leanbow nodded his head at each of them. "And that leaves…"

"Nick Russell, red ranger," Nick finished.

"It's good to meet you all," Leanbow said. "I look forward to helping Daggeron train you."

Chip positively exploded, he was so excited. "You're going to be training us?" he asked as he jumped up and down in his seat.

Vida placed a hand on his head. "Stay in one place, Chip. Not all of us are excited about more training."

"Vida," Daggeron scolded. "Training will help you defeat the Dark Court."

Leanbow chuckled at the father-like tone his comrade took on. "Yes, I'll be training you," Leanbow said to Chip. "I've been training all of my life."

"Were you a ranger?" Maddie asked, her voice full of curiosity.

"In a way," Leanbow answered. He turned to Daggeron. "I take it you never told them?"

Daggeron shrugged his shoulders. The movement looked out of place on him. It was like Daggeron belonged in another time.

"It never came up."

"I am the Wolf Warrior," Leanbow said. "Daggeron is the Solaris Knight. We are both knights, and we trained together, as children."

Xander gaped at Daggeron. "You're the same age as Leanbow?"

Again, Daggeron shrugged his shoulders, but a smile was attached to it this time. "I age well," he replied. He smirked at Leanbow and his friend reached over and punched him playfully on the shoulder.

"Well," Udonna said. "Now that we've finished the introductions, why don't we go to bed?"

"Aw, Udonna!"

Udonna raised an eyebrow at the five teenage rangers. "I do not believe that you wish to argue with me. I believe that you have element training tomorrow. Learning how to use your element can be quite exhausting."

"Do you have an element?" Vida asked. It was clear that the older Rocca twin did not believe that Udonna even had the slightest idea as to what she was talking about.

"As a matter of fact," Udonna said with a smile, "I do. My element is snow."

The rangers quickly scrambled into their respective sleeping bags.

* * *

Maddie stretched her arms over her head and took a deep breath of the fresh air. The view from the balcony of Rootcore was absolutely beautiful. The air smelled of firewood and other spices that Fairies used.

Maddie ran a hand through her hair. She never thought that she would be working to protect the creatures that she was raised to fear. She bit her lip and closed her eyes. How was she going to tell her mother? Was she ever going to tell her? She dropped her head to the balcony railing and rested it against the smooth wood. Even it had its own scent. She took a deep breath, craving the calming scent.

"Having a moment?" a voice from behind her asked.

Maddie stood up and found Nick standing in the doorway. He walked down to meet her, pulling the door shut behind him. He stood next to her and put both of his hands on the railing, leaning his weight onto it.

Maddie gave him a small smile. "How did you know?"

Nick held out his wrist, and then tapped his temple. "You've got some pretty strong emotions."

This time, Maddie smiled widely. "My grandmother always did say that anyone could read me just by looking at my face."

They stood in silence for a moment. They gazed out at the coils of smoke that were now rising above the trees. The small villages of Fairies were now rising, going about their morning tasks.

"Where is your grandma?" Nick finally asked.

Maddie chuckled to herself. "She moved out about two years ago. My family falls right under the "dysfunctional" category."

Nick leaned his forearms on the railing and took a deep breath. "I can honestly say that I've never really had many problems growing up," he said. "And I was adopted."

Maddie turned her head to look at him, only to find that he was already looking at her. Her eyes met his amazing blue-green ones and she breathed out slowly.

"Wow," Maddie finally said. _Wow, that was amazingly witty. That was good. He'll definitely want you now,_ she thought.

Nick shrugged his shoulders and looked down at his hands. "I've always known. My mother, father, and sister are pale and red-headed." He gestured at himself and finally cracked a smile. "I always thought it was pretty obvious."

Maddie shrugged her shoulders. "It doesn't matter. You grew up with a family that loved you, right?" Nick nodded his head. "Yeah. I spent the majority of my childhood using the buddy system—I could never go anywhere by myself. Of course, that's how most parents treat children, but my mother was fiercely protective of us. She would even go as far as to break her own rules to get us away from Fairies." She shook her head, remembering all of the times that her mother had made a huge scene in the middle of some public place. "As soon as we were teenagers, she , for all intents and purposes, put us on lockdown. Vida and I weren't really allowed to leave the house, so Chip came to us."

"How do you get out now?" Nick asked.

Maddie shrugged. "I don't know. You'll have to talk to Vida. All I know is that it involves a made-up club and a fake phone number. I don't really know the details."

Nick laughed. "That sounds like something that Vida would do."

Maddie laughed with him. "Yeah," she replied. Again, they stayed in silence for a few moments. Maddie tried to build her courage up to ask the question she had wanted to ask since she had seen him earlier that day.

"Nick," Maddie said.

Nick smiled at her. "Yeah?"

"I have to ask…" She took a deep breath and he looked expectantly at her. "What were you doing outside of my house earlier today?"

For a moment, Maddie saw something flash in Nick's eyes. It was something that she couldn't describe. But as fast as it had appeared, it was gone. All that was left was a carefully blank look.

"I was taking a walk," he said. And then he smiled, humor coming to his eyes, filling them once more. "And then you grabbed me and declared that we were dating."

Maddie scowled. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that that was _exactly_ what she wanted.

"I never said that!" Maddie exclaimed. "I just said that you were taking me out. Friends take each other out all the time."

"But there are many different connotations to "taking out." You made it clear to your mother which one you were talking about." He used to his fingers to make air quotes around "taking out." Maddie studied his face. He seemed playful and teasing; there was a smile on his face, and his eyes were smiling, as well.

Maddie tried her best to snort at him in indifference. "You wish," she replied shakily.

Something happened to Nick's face then. Before Maddie even had a chance to see what had happened, the door opened and Chip, Xander, Vida, Udonna, Leanbow, and Daggeron walked onto the balcony.

"It's good to see that you two are already up," Udonna said with a smile.

"Don't wake up so early," Xander complained. "You're making the rest of us look bad."

* * *

"It's a flower."

"I know it's a flower. Now, I want you to—"

"It's a flower."

"I realize that. Here's what I want you to do—"

"It's a… _girly_ flower."

"Not all flowers have to be girly. Now take the flower in your hands and—"

"All flowers are girly. Why can't I do something more… _manly_? Like a tree, or something?"

"Because you need to start off easy. Now, you're going to—"

"But I don't want to start off easy!"

"Xander!"

Xander looked at his mentor as if he were crazy. "Flowers are so puny," he stated.

Daggeron sighed in exasperation and rubbed a hand over his face. The man's seemingly infinite patience had finally met his match: Xander Bly.

"Flowers are not puny. They are an important part of society," Daggeron finally said.

"How?" Xander asked.

Daggeron breathed in deeply and let out his breath slowly. "Valentine's Day," he said a moment later. "Now you will grow this flower."  
"But a tree—"

"You want a tree? Here," Daggeron said as he steered Xander towards a large tree. "Grow this flower until it wraps around the trunk."

"But—"

"Do it."

Xander grumbled something under his breath, but, nonetheless squeezed his eyes shut and cupped the flower in his palms. He held close to the tree and tried to draw energy from it as the flower began to slowly grow in his hands. It attached itself to the trunk and began to curl up the tree, many buds appearing and blooming as it went. The flowers were a lovely shade of bright pink that complemented the bright green of the vine.

The other four rangers looked on, clearly impressed. They had yet to see how their elements were to be tested. They had spent the last hour meditating, clearing their minds so they could perform this simple magic.

Xander opened his eyes. They were slightly glassy as he looked up at the flower that had coiled around the tree.

"That took a lot," he muttered.

"I know," Daggeron said. "But you did it. Finally," he added under his breath. The other four rangers, along with Leanbow and Udonna, chuckled.

"Chip?" Daggeron said. "It's your turn."

"What do you want me to do?" Chip asked. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet, and there was a wide smile across his face.

Daggeron gestured to a small pile of rocks on the ground. "I want you to hold your hands over these and send an electrical current through them."

Chip looked disappointed for a moment. Clearly, he had been hoping for something more. However, he walked towards the pile and held his hand over it. He closed his eyes in the same way Xander had, and soon enough, his hand was crackling with yellow energy. He directed it towards the stone pile and his eyes opened, a blinding smile lighting his face as the stones exploded into a million little pieces.

"Awesome!" he exclaimed.

Daggeron smiled at his enthusiasm. "Vida?"

"Let me guess," Vida said as she stepped forward. "You want me to make some leaves blow in the wind."

Daggeron chuckled. "Not exactly. I want you to spin the leaves into a vortex. Is that a little better for you?"

Vida scowled as she closed her own eyes. The leaves around her quickly picked up and spun themselves into a small vortex. It grew as it spun towards Xander, who began to wildly back away.

"Vida," Xander said. The vortex still spun towards him. "Vida!"

It finally hit him, knocking him to the ground. Xander sputtered as he brushed leaves off of him and pulled them out of his hair.

"Thanks, Vida," Xander snapped.

Vida shrugged her shoulders and grinned at him. "No problem."

Daggeron shook his head, but there was a smile on his face. "Maddie, I want you to pull the water from this jug and water the grass. If you use your energy, you'll be able to make the grass green." Daggeron set the jug of water a little ways away from the patch of brown grass.

Maddie closed her eyes and concentrated solely on the water. She smiled inwardly as she heard the water lift from the jug and transfer itself to the grass. It dropped to the ground and was quickly soaked into the earth. Maddie spread the water out, imagining each drop going to a separate blade of grass. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see that the grass was a dark shade of yellow.

Daggeron smiled in encouragement. "You're definitely getting there," he said. "Now, Nick." He turned towards the red ranger. "I want you to light this candle." Daggeron produced a small, red, candle from the folds of his jacket.

Nick raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"

Daggeron smiled. "That's it."

Nick closed his eyes. A few moments later, a patch of grass went up in flames. Udonna quickly extinguished it.

"Concentrate on the wick," Daggeron said. "That's your target and your goal."

Nick took a deep breath and sat down on the ground, crossing his legs in front of him. He closed his eyes again. Suddenly, the candle was alight with flame. Daggeron blew the candle out and smiled at Nick.

"Well done, Nick. In fact, well done all of you. It is not easy to use your elemental power for the first time, but all of you did remarkably well. You five are truly the Guardians. Now, I believe Udonna wants to work on your morph."

Nick's brow furrowed. "Our morph?"

"You can use your staffs to morph. As Guardians, you're each given a suit depicting your element that will, for the most part, protect you in battle. Here," Udonna held out five things that looked like cell phones. "These were your staffs. I have made them into cell phones, so they will be easy to use. Morphing is not hard, and it does not take much energy. In fact, I think you'll all like it. You five are quite strong."

The five rangers exchanged glances. They might be strong now, but they had to be stronger.

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope you all liked this chapter. I also have a new PRMF story up, called **_**To Be Spontaneous**_**. If you like Maddick, please check it out! Review, please?**


	11. First Time for Everything

**Author's Note: Thank you for the amazing reviews. I'm glad that you all like the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or **_**Wicked Lovely**_**.**

* * *

**Seven Years Ago**

_"Okay, so, you hold the ball like this, and then you swing it back—"_

_Vida huffed and rolled her eyes. "I know how to bowl, Chip."_

_Chip shrugged his shoulders and smiled sheepishly at his friend. "I was just saying. I mean, with your mom, you never know…" The smile immediately fell off of Chip's face as he saw his friends' annoyed faces. "I'm sorry," he said, quietly._

_Maddie shook her head. "Don't worry about it, Chip. We're just agreeing with you, don't worry."_

_"Why don't we move on to happier thoughts?" Chip suggested. "I mean, we are here for bowling, after all."_

_Vida clapped her hands together and picked up a bowling ball. "Well, then, it sounds like a plan!" She swung her arm back and the let the ball go, watching with satisfaction as it rolled down the center of the lane and knocked all the pins down. She smiled smugly as she turned to Chip._

_"I don't know how to bowl," she said with an ungraceful snort. "Yeah, right."_

_"Nice shot," a voice behind them said._

_All three eleven-year olds turned around to see Xander Bly standing in front of them. He was holding a green bowling ball and he had a slight smile on his face._

_Vida's brow furrowed in annoyance and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Thanks," she mumbled._

_Maddie chuckled to herself and shook her head. Already, she could tell that her sister liked the new kid._

_"Can I join?" Xander asked._

_Chip beamed at his new friend. "Sure!" he exclaimed. He then seemed to remember that he was there with two other people, and he turned to his best friends with an apologetic look on his face._

_"Sorry," he muttered. "Is it okay with you two?"_

_Maddie nodded her head. She didn't see why not. "Sure," she agreed._

_They both looked at Vida, who grudgingly nodded her head. "Whatever," she said._

_Chip and Maddie exchanged a look and both covered their mouths with their hands to hide their laughs. It appeared that Maddie wasn't the only one to notice who Vida liked._

* * *

"Magical source, mystic force?"

"Yes," Udonna confirmed.

Xander made a face. "It sounds weird," he said.

Udonna glanced over at Daggeron, who rolled his eyes. They confirmed with a look Xander's annoying tendencies.

"But what you end up with isn't weird," Udonna said. "Now say it."

The five teens looked at each other and flipped their morphers open. They repeated the chant, and, in a flash of light, their vision was suddenly darkened. Each ranger touched their face, only to find helmet's covering their heads. They finally looked at each other, shocked to see that each were glad in bright spandex.

Maddie's hands immediately went to the small, blue skirt that was over her leggings. She smoothed it out and felt her cheeks heat up as her teammates took in each other's outfits.

"It's tight," she mumbled.

"We look tight!" Chip said. His four teammates and two mentors turned around and looked at him. Chip's cheeks turned red and he looked down. "All I meant was that the uniforms were tight and we were wearing it..."

Vida laughed and hugged her friend. "We got it, Chip."

"It was cute," Maddie said. Chip threw her a thankful smile and then proceeded to chekc out his new uniform, leaving the rest of the rangers to hear their mentor's response.

Udonna chuckled. "It's easier to move in."

"Dude!" Chip tried again. He clenched his cape in between his fingers and jumped up and down. "We look bad ass! Look at our capes!"

"Yeah," Xander scoffed. "Because capes just scream 'bad ass.'"

No one could tell for sure, but everyone was certain that Chip was glaring at Xander. "They do to me," he said.

"My point has been proven."

Udonna shook her head and smiled. "What do you all think?"

"They're…" Maddie began, but she stopped. She wasn't quite sure how she wanted to describe their new uniforms. She wasn't really one to go around wearing brightly-colored spandex with a helmet and cape on.

"Ridiculous," Vida supplied.

Maddie rolled her eyes. She knew what her sister was going to say before the words even left her mouth. In fact, she was pretty sure everyone knew what Vida was going to say.

"It's pink!" Vida exclaimed. "Completely, and totally pink. It's just pink."

"Hey, to be fair, there is some white," Chip said.

"Chip, white doesn't count as a color," Vida grumbled.

Maddie shook her head and placed her hand on her sister's shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly. "V, your uniform is pink," she said. "Get used to it."

Vida made a face at her, even though she knew full well that her sister couldn't see it. "You're just saying that because you're happy with your color. It's blue."

"Yes, and I like blue," Maddie said firmly. "Now let it go."

"Well," Daggeron said. "Now that we're though discussing our uniforms, why don't we practice in them?"

* * *

The Rocca twins entered their house and shut the door quietly behind them. They put their jackets on the hanger and then went towards the stairs as quietly as they could. They hoped to go up to their rooms and feign sleep so their mother wouldn't get on their case. As soon as their foot touched the first step, however, a door slammed and they could hear footsteps echoing down the hallway.

Vida bit her lip and closed her eyes. "Shit," she mumbled.

"So, Madison," Katherine said. She put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at her youngest daughter. "How was your date?"

Vida patted Maddie on the shoulder. "See ya, sis," she said before she booked it up the stairs.

Maddie rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the help, _sis_!" she yelled back. She mumbled several choice words under her breath as she heard the door to Vida's bedroom close.

"Well?" Katherine demanded in a short, clipped voice a moment later.

Maddie jumped. She had forgotten that her mother was standing there. She twisted her hands inside her sweater pocket and looked everywhere but her mother. The last thing she wanted was for this to get back to Nick.

"It was… It was good," Maddie finally managed in a small voice. She mentally winced at herself. God, it was a wonder her mother believed anything that came out of her moth lately.

"Really? And when do I get to meet this boy?"

Maddie's eyes widenened. "I… I… I don't really think that… maybe you… he is… I… I don't know."

"We should arrange for him to have dinner over tomorrow night," Katherine said. "I would very much like to meet him. I'm not comfortable with my daughter dating someone that I know nothing about."

"Mom, really, it's fine," Maddie said, finally snapping out of her shocked trance. "You don't need to meet him. He's prefectly fine." She raised her own eyebrow at her mother. "You trust me, don't you?"

Katherine walked down the hallway. Just as she was about to enter the kitchen, she turned back around and smiled at her daughter.

"No, I don't," she said. "I expect him to be here at five-thrity."

As the door swung shut behind Katherine, Maddie dropped down to the step and propped her elbows up on her knees. She rested her head in her palms and sighed.

How the hell was she going to get out of this one?

* * *

**Author's Note: I know this chapter wasn't much, but they did get to morph. I'm sorry I haven't update in such a long time! Also, the last chapter of _To Be Spontaneous_ is up. Review, please?**


	12. Keeping Up the Charade

**Author's Note: Well, thank you for the great reviews. I hope you all like this chapter! I'm sorry I haven't updated in such a long time.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or Wicked Lovely.**

* * *

**Six Years Ago**

_"Mom, are you sure you're okay?"_

_Katherine looked at her youngest daughter and ran a hand through her hair. "Yes. Why?" she snapped. She winced internally when she Maddie wince._

_"I'm sorry," Maddie said. "I was just asking. You seem really stressed about this dinner."_

_"I am," Katherine answered. "I haven't had the family over in a very long time."_

_"Why not?" Maddie asked curiously. She knew that her mother had a sister, but she and Vida had never met her. Apparently, there had been a falling out many years ago._

_Dana walked into the kitchen and smiled. "It smells good in here," she said._

_Katherine let a relieved smile fall on her face. "I haven't cooked Christmas dinner in a long time. It's good to know that it at least smells good."_

_"Katherine, I'm sure it's going to be fine," Dana reassured her daughter. She gave her a small smile._

_Vida, who had just entered the room, exchanged a look with Maddie. Not a single hint of warmth had been exchanged between the mother and daughter in over a year._

_There was a knock on the door and Vida and Maddie looked at each other before rushing towards the door. They wrestled for the door and finally managed to get it open at the same time._

_Standing in front of them was a woman of twenty-nine years old. She looked exactly like a picture of their grandmother when she was younger. While the twin's mother had a classic sort of beauty, her sister had a radiant, natural beauty._

_"Hi," she said. "You two wouldn't happen to be my nieces, would you?"_

_"You're Aunt Elizabeth?" Vida, always the braver of the two, asked._

_She made a face. "Please, call me Liz," she said._

_"Lizzie, is that you?"_

_A smile came over her face as Dana entered the room. She hugged her mother tightly. Dana had a warm smile lighting up her face. Katherine was standing behind them, her arms crossed, an unreadable look on her face._

_"You can't stay away much longer," Dana said. "You have to come back home."_

_"Don't worry, Mom," Liz said. "I'm going to be around from now on. Now: where is my sister?"_

_"Right here," Katherine said. Liz smiled when she saw her sister and gave her a hug as well._

_"It's been a while," she said._

_"Yeah, I wonder why," Katherine bit out._

_Liz raised an eyebrow but said nothing. She looked at Dana and she shook her head. Vida and Maddie exchanged confused looks but said nothing._

* * *

_The night had progressed without any more stress. It had seemed like the sisters and mother had enjoyed being together again._

_The kids were in the living room, and Dana was with them. Katherine and Liz were in the kitchen, washing dishes, just as they had after every family dinner._

_"So," Liz asked. "How are you doing? We kind of left off on a bad note."_

_Katherine closed her eyes and gripped the dish in her hands tightly. She took a deep breath and began to wash the dish again._

_"I've been fine," she replied. She carefully avoided the topic of their last encounter, something that Liz did not miss._

_"Kat, we have to talk about it sometime," Liz said._

_"Well, I don't want to," Katherine retorted. She sounded very much like her older daughter, but she couldn't help it._

_Liz shook her head. "Can't we handle this like adults?" When Katherine didn't reply, Liz tried a different approach. "Where is he?"_

_"Where is who?" Katherine asked, once again playing dumb._

_Liz let her frustration and impatience show for the first time. "You know exactly who I'm talking about."_

_"Don't ask me about him."_

_"That's another thing you can't avoid, Katherine."_

_"Oh, so it's Katherine, now?"_

_"If you're not going to talk to me, then yes, it is."_

_"You're ridiculous!"_

_"You're the one being ridiculous! You need to grow up, Katherine. You have two children who are growing up and are going to start to wonder about their father. They're going to ask questions, and you need to be ready to answer them. What are you going to say?"_

_Suddenly, the plate that Katherine was holding flew past Liz's head and shattered against the wall. Liz stared at her sister in wide-eyed shock._

_"Leave," Katherine hissed._

_Liz didn't say anything as she quietly left the kitchen. She gave the shocked twins and her mother a small smile before leaving, quietly but firmly shutting the door behind her._

* * *

"You got yourself into some deep shit."

Maddie sighed and rolled her eyes as she set the table. "Thanks for the support, V," she replied. She set the last plate down and exhaled loudly. She ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head. "This is going to be a disaster."

Vida raised an eyebrow. "And how do you figure this?"

"Do you remember the last dinner that Mom had? She ended up throwing a plate at her sister's head." She frowned. "I hope that she doesn't throw anything at Nick's head."

Vida gave her sister a reassuring look and patted her on the shoulder. Despite her personal opinion, she said, "Mom wouldn't do something like that."

Maddie looked skeptical. "Are you sure about that? I wouldn't put it past her."

"I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Maybe we should quit while we're ahead."

"Maddie, I'm not liking this negativity." Her sister still looked skeptical and unsure, so Vida put her hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "I'll be right here the entire time."

"You won't leave?" Maddie asked, her eyes already filling with relief.

Vida grinned. "Yes. I promise that I won't leave you and your boyfriend."

Maddie paused as she put the silverware around the plates. "Boyfriend," she repeated, as if the word was completely foreign.

Vida waggled her eyebrows, her grin turning into a smirk. "Yeah. Nick Russell is your _boyfriend_."

"Oh, great," Maddie muttered. "I hadn't thought of it that way. As if our lives aren't already complicated enough."

"Hey, you were the one who started this whole thing," Vida said, her hands held up.

"I needed an excuse!" Maddie exclaimed, defending herself. "I just did the first thing that came to my mind and reached out and grabbed someone."

"So you didn't know who you would grab?" Vida asked skeptically.

Maddie bit her lip. "I did," she finally admitted. "I saw him walking down the street."

Vida pointed a finger at her triumphantly. "Ha!"

Maddie looked over her shoulder at their mother's form in the kitchen. "Vida!" she hissed.

"What?"

"Mom is right there!"

"Like she cares."

"Yeah, she does. If she didn't, we wouldn't be having this stupid dinner and I wouldn't have to pretend that—"

She was cut off by the sound of the doorbell. Maddie threw her sister a panicked look and then walked towards the front door, wiping her hands on her jeans. She grasped the doorknob and took a deep breath before she opened the door.

Instead of Nick, she found herself staring at her grandmother.

"Grandma!" she exclaimed.

Dana Rocca smiled widely and hugged her younger granddaughter tightly. They both heard something clatter in the dining room and then heard Vida curse loudly. She hopped to the door on one foot, holding the other and muttering profanities.

"Damn chair…" she muttered. When she saw her grandmother, however, she dropped her foot to the floor and launched herself into her arms.

"Well, you've got quite a mouth on you, don't you?" Dana said with a laugh.

The happy family reunion was ended quickly when they heard a slamming sound coming from the kitchen. They heard footsteps, and soon Katherine appeared in front of them.

"Mother," she said stiffly. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, Vida called me and told me that you were having a little dinner party. She invited me to meet Maddie's new boyfriend." Dana winked at Maddie, and, in turn, Maddie raised an eyebrow. Dana gave a slight nod of her head,

Well, damn. She knew.

Fortunately, Katherine hadn't seen it. She was too busy glaring at her oldest daughter.

"Vida," she said, her voice hard and stern. "May I have a word with you?"

Vida sent her grandmother and sister a panicked look. Just as she was about to open her mouth, the doorbell rang. Vida let out a sigh of relief and flung the door open.

"Nick!" she exclaimed. "What perfect timing!"

Maddie covered her mouth with her hand to hide her laughter at the confused look on Nick's face. He was holding a boquet of flowers, and he was dressed in a red polo and nice jeans. She caught her grandmother's eye and saw her nod approvingly—that sent Maddie into another fit of giggles.

Dana was looking expectantly between Nick and Maddie. Clearly, she expected some form of affection to be exchanged between the two teenagers. Nick, without hesitating, walked towards Maddie and brushed his lips across her cheek, then took her hand.

"Hey," he said. "Thanks for inviting me to dinner." He held the flowers out to her. "These are for you."

Maddie, taking the flowers, felt her cheeks flame bright red. "Thanks," she mumbled. She heard Vida snigger behind her and she stepped back, planting her foot on Vida's. Vida hid a howl of pain—Maddie assumed she must have stomped on Vida's injured foot.

"Mom, this is Nick Russell," she said, making the introductions again. "Nick, this is my mother."

Nick shook her hand. "It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Rocca," he said.

"It's Ms.," Katherine said, her voice stiff once more.

Nick visibly winced and Maddie gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. Dana, always the peacemaker, clapped her hands.

"Why don't we go start dinner?" she suggested.

Katherine sniffed and took the flowers from her daughter. Vida rolled her eyes and linked arms with Dana, and they made their way into the living room. Still holding hands, Nick and Maddie lagged behind them.

"Don't take it personally," Maddie advised. "She's like this with everyone."

Nick gave her a smile. "It's okay," he said.

"Listen, I want to thank you for doing this for me. I didn't mean to pull you into this."

Nick's smile spread into a grin. "Oh, it's no problem," he said. "I don't mind."

He squeezed her hand this time, and, together, they walked into the dining room.

* * *

Dinner had gone relatively smooth. Katherine had kept silent almost the entire night. Dana, however, was asking Nick questions left and right, but not in a way that would make him uncomfortable. The elderly woman seemed to genuinely like Nick, even though she was in on the charade.

Dessert had just been served, when, suddenly, Nick, Maddie, and Vida's morphers chimed simultaneously. They jumped up, their hands on their pockets. Maddie waved her hand at Nick, letting him know that he should not be the one to answer. Nick took his hand away from his morpher, getting what Maddie was saying. He didn't need to give Katherine a reason not to like him.

Maddie flipped her morpher open, under the disapproving gaze of her mother. "Hello?"

"Maddie?" Udonna's voice sounded panicked. "Necrolai is attacking a picnic in the park. You have to get there right away."

"Alright," Maddie said. "We'll be there." She hung up the phone and looked at Nick and Vida, answering their unasked question with a nod. "Let's go," she said.

Just as they were moving towards the door, a voice stopped them.

"Wait a second," Katherine said as she stood up. "Now where do you three think you're going?"

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. There have been a few new dynamics added in… Review, please? **


	13. A Tempting Offer

**Author's Note: Thank you for the amazing reviews. I'm glad that you all liked this chapter. I hope you all like this one!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it.**

* * *

**Five Years Ago**

_Liz tapped her fingers against her thigh and shifted uncomfortably. She knew that her sister liked to bring the kids here from time to time. All she needed was for her to show up._

_Fortunately, she didn't show up, and he showed came. He sat down next to her on the bench and smiled warmly at her._

_"It's been too long, Elizabeth," he said._

_She smiled. He was always so polite. She was glad that they could be civil, even when he and her sister couldn't._

"_Call me Liz, please."_

_"Alright… Liz. What did you need to talk to me about?"_

_Liz grew uncomfortable once more. She glanced around, trying to make sure that Katherine wasn't in the vicinity. She turned back to him. He was watching her with an expectant look on his face._

_"I came here to talk about… my sister."_

_He sighed. "I figured."_

_She raised an eyebrow. "You knew, and you still came?"_

_"Yeah. What did she do to you?"_

_"The last time I saw her was about a year ago. I tried to talk to her… she threw a plate at my head."_

_He shook his head. "So, she's still angry."_

_"Yes. I don't understand how she can hold a grudge for twelve years."_

_"She's Katherine. Who knows why she does anything?"_

_"You still hold a grudge."_

_"Liz, she won't let me see my children."_

_Liz's mouth fell open. "You've… you've never seen them?"_

_"No."_

_"Never?"_

_"I've seen little glances of them, but I've never met them. I don't even know their names."_

_"Their names are Vida and Madison."_

_"Vida and Madison," he breathed. "I love it."_

_Liz shook her head. "I'm so sorry. I tried to talk to her, and I've tried to talk to her since the last time I saw her, but she refuses to speak to me."_

_"Have you talked to Dana?"_

_"Yes, I have. She says that Katherine refuses to listen to her, as well." She shook her head. "Those poor kids have called me and asked me if I knew anything about their father. I never know what to say."_

_"It's alright." He smiled at her. "I want you to know that I love your sister. I always will. But I have something to tell you."_

_"And what's that?"_

_A red-headed woman came and sat next to him. He took her hand and ran his thumb over her knuckles._

"_I'm getting married."_

* * *

"Uh… um…"

The three teenagers exchanged frantic glances and stuttered. Katherine watched them with an expectant look on her face. She motioned to their chairs.

"Well, if you have no explanation, then I suggest you sit down," Katherine said.

They looked at each other, at a loss for words. Just as Vida was about to open her mouth, there was a knock at the door. Katherine got up to answer it.

She opened the door, and there stood Daggeron. Nick, Maddie, and Vida all breathed sighs of relief when they saw their mentor's face.

Daggeron gestured slightly with his head, indicating that they should find another way to leave. Nick nodded his head and reached for Maddie's hand. He tugged her towards the back door. Maddie gestured for Vida to follow. They slipped out of the back door quietly, but not before they heard Katherine say, "What the hell are you doing here?"

They sprinted away from the house, fumbling with their morphers as they went. They morphed and continued to run towards the park.

"That was weird," Maddie said. "Do you think that Mom knows Daggeron?"

"Who knows, who cares," Vida said. "Right now, we have to go kick Necrolai's ass."

* * *

"It's about time you got here!" Xander exclaimed. He dodged a hit from a Hydiac and whipped around to face them.

"Oh, quit your gripping," Vida said. "We're here now."

Soon enough, the Hydiacs were cleared out, thanks to the arrival of the other three rangers. They met again in the center of the park.

"What took you guys so long?" Chip asked.

Maddie shrugged her shoulders and exchanged a look with Vida and Nick. "Family dinner," she said.

"Where is Necrolai?" Vida asked. "Udonna said she was here."

"She was," Xander confirmed. "She left before you guys got here."

"Are you serious?" Vida demanded. "I was looking forward to kicking her ass!"

"We know," Xander muttered.

Chip looked at Xander, an uneasy look on his face. "But she did give us this."

He held out a piece of paper. Maddie took it, giving a curious look to Chip. Chip just shrugged his shoulders and waved his hands at the note. It was addressed to Vida and Maddie.

Maddie looked at Vida, and then opened it. Her eyes quickly scanned the words, and she grew pale. Nick gave her a concerned look and put his hand on her shoulder.

"What? What does it say?" Vida asked.

Maddie wordlessly handed Vida the note. Vida gave Maddie a confused look, but she took the note and read it.

_"If you want to find out about your father, meet me in the Mystic realm. Let the shadows guide you there."_

Vida looked up at Maddie. Maddie was wearing a look of panic on her face, and Vida was sure that she had a look to match that.

"What does it say?" Xander asked, voicing the thoughts of both Chip and Nick.

Maddie took the note from Vida. She pursed her lips and folded it.

"Nothing of consequence," she muttered.

* * *

Nick came to sit next to Maddie. She was sitting in the great library of Rootcore, staring up at the stained glass windows.

"Do you want to tell me what that was about?" he asked.

Maddie sighed. "No." She shifted to face him. "Not really."

Nick leaned back against the wall. "I figured as much."

Maddie nodded her head, but said nothing more on the matter. Instead, she changed the subject.

"Thanks for coming to dinner," she said.

"No problem. It was interesting, I had to admit."

"It always is." Maddie closed her eyes. "You know, she's always been like that."

"What?"

"Don't pretend like you didn't notice, Nick. She has always been controlling of us. It has to do with us having the Sight."

"I don't understand why that makes her controlling."

"She's afraid," Maddie said simply. "The Fairies are… unlike anything that we've ever known. There are so many of them: the Summer Fairies, the Winter Fairies, the Light Court, the Dark Court. Then there are also the ones that stand alone. There are the Temptation Fairies, and those are the ones that scare her the most."

"What is that they tempt you to do?" Nick asked, although he was sure he knew the answer.

"They tempt you sexually," Maddie replied. "My mother believes that she was tempted by one of them, once. My grandmother says otherwise."

He touched her arm in sympathy. There wasn't much he could say. He didn't have experience in matters like these.

"We feared them, as well. She raised us to know this fear. But now… we're not exactly one of them. We're their Guardians. We protect them."

"Udonna said we were born to protect them. That we were chosen," Nick said.

Maddie snorted lightly. "Why don't you explain that to my mother. I have to protect the very thing that she fears."

"If there was anything I could do to help—"

"Just… when I have to tell her… promise that you'll… that you'll be there… with me."

Nick brushed his fingertips across her face. "Of course," he whispered.

Maddie closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. They sat like that for a few moments, in complete silence, just feeling each other.

Suddenly, Vida ran into the library. Nick dropped his hand from her face and Maddie moved away. They inched away from each other on the bench. It only took a few moments to do this. When Vida saw them, she saw them sitting stiffly, not looking at each other.

"Maddie we have to go."

Maddie's head snapped up. "Go? Go where?"

Vida gave her a pointed look. "You know where."

Suddenly realizing what Vida was getting at, Maddie shook her head. "No. No way. We're not going."

"Going where?" Nick asked.

"Nothing, Nick. It's none of your business," Vida said, waving her hand dismissively at him. She turned back to Maddie. "Look, you want to know as much as I do."

Maddie shook her head. "It could be a trap."

"Could it? Why would she send us that message?"

"Because she wants to trap us. Didn't you hear her the first time we fought her? She said that we ruined her life."

"What are you guys talking about?" Nick demanded.

"Nick, leave!" Vida commanded. "This has nothing to do with you!"

"I think it does," Nick said, his face turning red. "I'm the leader of this group. Your safety is my responsibility."

"It's none of your concern, Nick," Vida said.

"Would you two stop it?" Maddie yelled. "This is not the time, or the place." She turned to Nick. "Nick, you have to trust us."

"I'm not sure about this…" Nick trailed off.

Maddie touched his cheek, looking into his eyes. "Trust me, Nick."

Nick studied her for a moment. "Alright," he conceded. "But if there is any trouble, I want you to call me."

She nodded her head. "Okay."

She gave him another smile and then left. She and Vida still argued quietly. Nick watched them leave. When they were out of earshot, Nick reached for his phone.

"Xander? Is Chip there with you?" He paused, waiting for Xander's response. "He is? Good. I need you to meet me outside of Rootcore."

* * *

"I can't believe you talked me into this," Maddie mumbled.

"You wanted to know this just as much as I did," Vida repeated.

Maddie stared at the smoky, twisting shadows that led them farther away from Rootcore and deeper into the dark woods. She looked pointedly at Vida, who gave her a sheepish look.

"I know how this looks," Vida said. "But I… I just need to know."

"I know," Maddie said quietly.

They followed the shadows for what seemed to be forever. Finally, they came to a dark tunnel. They looked uneasily at each other, and then took out their morphers, watching the screens barely light up the tunnel. They walked down, following it as it went deeper and deeper.

"I think we're going underground," Vida whispered.

"I don't like this, V," Maddie muttered. "I don't like this at all."

Vida opened her mouth to respond, but she was cut off by a voice in the shadows. The shadows that had led them here curled closer to the figure.

"Well, well. Are you ready to learn about your father?"

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope you all liked this chapter. Review, please?**


	14. Keeping Secrets

**Author's Note: Thanks for the great reviews. I hope you all like this chapter! It will mostly be Maddie and Vida talking with Necrolai.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it.**

* * *

**Four Years Ago**

_He knew that he was pushing it._

_He knew that there was a chance that he was going to get caught._

_He knew that if he got caught, she would hurt him—severely._

_Still, he didn't care. He just had to see them. Due to his conversation with Liz Rocca last year, he had been trying to catch glimpses of his daughters._

_This time, it was their thirteenth birthday. They were officially teenagers. He had missed some of the most important parts of their lives, but he wasn't going to miss this._

_Katherine was allowing the twins to have a small birthday party, consisting of Chip Thorn and Xander Bly, in the park._

_In his opinion, he was sure that this was not what kind of party teenagers had in mind. He felt sorry for his daughters, and wished that he could meet them, and speak with Katherine._

_He crept closer to their table, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible. He had to stay out of Katherine's view, but he also had to make sure that he could see his daughters._

_It was not an easy task, seeing as how Katherine had eyes in the back of her head. She kept one eye trained on her daughters at all time, and the other swept the surrounding area, searching for other Fairies, he was sure._

_Katherine finally looked away from both her daughters and the area, in order to prepare the cake. She set the cake in front of them. It was aglow with thirteen candles. They looked at each other, and then looked at Xander and Chip, who were sitting across from them._

_At the same time, they both looked up and caught his eye. They looked at each other, studying each other._

_Then Maddie and Vida looked away and blew their candles out. They continued to laugh with their friends._

_Katherine began to look up, and he looked quickly away. He turned around and began to walk out of the park._

_As he neared the entrance, a woman wrapped their arms around his neck. He smiled as he pressed a kiss to her lips. They walked hand-in-hand away from the park._

_"I'm glad you're here," he said._

_She kissed him again. "Me, too."_

_He touched her face. "Promise me that you will never leave me."_

_"I will never leave you."_

* * *

Vida narrowed her eyes at Necrolai. She put her hands on her hips in a defiant stance and tilted her head to one side, inviting Necrolai to attack her. When she did not, Vida spoke.

"What do you want, Necrolai?" Vida demanded.

Necrolai shook her head. "You silly little Ranger," she said in a mocking tone. "Did I not just tell you? I am prepared to tell you everything you wish to know about your father."

Next to Vida, Maddie had taken a very different stance. Her arms were crossed in defensive way, and her face did not reveal near as much anger as Vida's.

"What could you possibly know about our father?" Maddie said.

"How would you even know him?" Vida asked, adding on to Maddie's question. "Our father is human, and, last time we checked, you were some bitch Fairy."

Necrolai laughed, long and drawn-out. "Your father is not human," she finally said when her laughter had subsided.

Vida and Maddie exchanged panicked looks. What could she possibly be talking about?

There was only one other possibility. Maddie didn't know if Vida was thinking about it. She knew that it couldn't be real, though. With her mother's hatred of them…

Apparently, Vida had been having the same thought as Maddie, for she had paled significantly. "If our father isn't human, what could he be?" Vida asked.

"Think hard, young witches. Think very hard. There is only one other thing that your father could be."

"A Guardian?" Vida said desperately.

"No. Your father is a Fairy."

"How do you know that?" Maddie asked. She didn't even try to argue with Necrolai. It had to be true. It was the only explanation as to why Katherine never talked about their father. It was because he was the one thing that she hated most in the world.

Necrolai inhaled sharply. "I knew him. Once."

"Who is he?"

A smirk unfurled on Necrolai's face. "Oh, you know him quite well. He's very close to you, actually."  
Vida laughed outright at that. "Oh, you are sorely mistaken, Necrolai. Our mother doesn't let us anywhere near Fairies. There are no Fairies close to us."

"Once again, you must think. What are you now? What do you protect."

Maddie gripped Vida's arm. "Oh, God," she said.

Vida looked at her sister with an alarmed look on her face. "What?"

"Our father…"

Necrolai inclined her head. "Is Daggeron."

* * *

"Well, that was… informative."

Vida looked at her sister. "That's all you can think to say?"

"What am I supposed to say?" Maddie demanded.

"How about, 'Our mother is a liar?'"

"I know that!"

"She raised us to fear our father!"

"I know. We have every right to be angry with her."

"Then why aren't you more angry?"

Maddie stopped in her tracks and whipped around to face her sister. "Because, no matter what I do, no matter what we do, it won't change her opinion of the Fairies. We can't ever tell her about us, about who we protect. She'll hate us as much as she hates Daggeron. I don't want my mother to hate me!"

Vida bit her lip. "I don't want her to hate me, either."

"Then we agree, right here and now: We can't tell Mom about us being Guardians."

Vida nodded her head. "Agreed."

* * *

Xander's mouth was hanging open. He opened and closed it a few times, trying to form words to express his shock. He looked at Nick and Chip, who had equal looks of shocks on their faces.

"Holy…"

"Oh my…"

"What…"

They exchanged worried glances and looked at the sisters' retreating back. Quietly, they got up and began following them back to Rootcore.

"Daggeron is Maddie and Vida's father," Nick said quietly.

"Wow," Chip said.

"God, it's just one more reason to fear him," Xander muttered.

Nick and Chip looked at Xander, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"What?"

Chip just shook his head. "What do we do? What do we say?"

"We don't say anything," Nick decided. "If they want to tell us, they will."

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, I hope you all liked this chapter. I know that it was horribly predictable, and I apologize for that. And I also wanted to say that I have a few Stargate SG-1 stories up, if you wanted to check those out. Yes, I am shamelessly promoting my other stories. Review, please?**


	15. Talking

**Author's Note: Thanks for the amazing reviews! I really appreciate them. I hope you all like this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it.**

* * *

**Three Years Ago**

_Katherine twisted her hands in her lap. Her babies were growing up, and, soon, they were going to leave her. She didn't want to think about being in an empty nest… with no one but her mother to keep her company._

_Sometimes she regretted leaving him. Sometimes, she thought that she should have stayed with him. She had felt more human with him than she had with anyone else. She loved him._

_Then she found out that he had lied to her. He was the one thing that she feared the most, and she couldn't stand that. She couldn't be with one of them. She couldn't love one of them._

_But, more importantly, she couldn't be with someone who lied to her._

_Maybe, if he had been honest with her from the beginning, she could have grown to love him. He was so charming, she was almost positive that she could have looked past what he was. When she was with him, she never thought that it would be possible that he could be one of them._

_But he was. And then she got pregnant._

_Her mother, normally free-spirited and the one to go against the grain, had been absolutely furious when she had told her that she was pregnant. She had berated her daughter for being so stupid, for not finding out more about him, for not using protection, for giving herself up to him when they weren't married._

_Katherine had pointed out that she had done the exact same thing when she was her age, only the person she had done it with hadn't been one of them. When Katherine's father had found out that Dana had been pregnant, he had left, afraid of commitment, afraid of being a father._

_So Katherine never told him that she had been pregnant. She was angry with him for hiding what he was, but she didn't want to know if he would leave her because she was pregnant. If anyone was going to be doing the leaving, it was going to be her._

_But she couldn't be more thankful. He had given her two of the most important things in her life: her daughters._

* * *

Xander took a deep breath. It was now or never.

Quite frankly, he preferred never.

But it had to be done.

He walked towards Vida, so he was on the other side of the desk. It was right before class, and it had been a week since he, Nick, and Chip had followed her and Maddie to Necrolai's lair. Neither of them had said anything, and Xander was getting restless. He had to talk to _someone_ about it.

Nick and Chip knew as much as he did. It wasn't like he could go and talk to Daggeron, because then he would ask questions, and Xander didn't know how to answer them. Nick clearly wanted to be the one to talk to Maddie, if she talked at all.

So that left Vida.

Vida looked up. "What do you want?" she said.

Well, at least she hadn't snapped at him.

"I wanted to… uh…"

He couldn't bring the subject up himself. He had to see if she was willing to talk to him before he opened his big mouth.

She raised an eyebrow. "Wanted to…?"

"I wanted to see if you wanted to… uh… talk." He winced. His choice of words didn't sound remotely right.

"Talk?" Her voice sounded incredulous. "About what?"

"About…" He tapped his fingers on the desk. He was careful to keep it between himself and Vida. "Anything that you wanted to talk about."

"Why?"

Yeah, why. Why was she making this difficult?

"Has anything been bothering you this past week?"

For one split second, a look of pure, absolute panic appeared on her face. She quickly covered it up, and an incredulous face matched her incredulous voice.

"No. There's nothing that I wanted to talk about."

"Oh," Xander said, suddenly losing his nerve. "Well… okay."

* * *

"Nick?"

Nick looked up as Chip walked over to his desk. He shut his book and leaned back in his chair, looking up at his red-headed friend.

"What's up?" he said to the yellow ranger.

"I heard Xander talking to Vida," Chip said.

Nick's eyes narrowed. "About what?" he asked.

"Well… I'm not entirely sure, but I think he was trying to get Vida to talk about what Necrolai said to her and Maddie."

"Why would he…?"

"Xander likes to talk."

"Ah."

"I really don't think we should talk to Maddie and Vida about this," Chip said quietly.

"Yeah?"

He nodded his head. "I know them. I've known them for a while, now. If they want to talk, they will. They like to talk on their own terms."

"Yeah," Nick said with a snort. "I noticed." He sighed. "I'll talk to Xander, then."

* * *

"Hey, Xander!" Nick called out. He jogged to catch up with Xander.

"Hey, Nick," Xander greeted. "What's up?"

"You can't talk to Vida about what we heard."

Nick figured that he shouldn't beat around the bush, especially when it came to Xander. Besides he didn't have much time between classes.

"What? Why not?" Xander demanded.

"Because! We followed them and then proceeded to eavesdrop on them. I don't think they would be too happy if they found out about that."

"No… I guess not."

"And besides. If it hadn't been for Vida, I wouldn't have known where they were going. Vida was about ready to rip my head off when I was trying to figure out what was going on. I don't think she would take too kindly to the fact that we followed them."

"Alright, I see your point," Xander conceded. "So what do we do? We just wait for them to talk to us?"

Nick nodded his head. "I guess so."

* * *

"What are we going to do?" Vida asked.

"Do about what?" Maddie asked, although she knew exactly what her sister was talking about.

"We have to go train with Daggeron."

"Yeah, I know." Maddie ran a hand through her hair. "I gotta say, we were really lucky this week. Udonna just trained us in magic."

Vida nodded her head. "But now, Daggeron is going to want to spar with us."

"Oh, sparring with Daggeron. It sounds like so much fun."

Vida snorted. "Tell me about it." She shook her head and propped her elbows up onto the table, and then dropped her head into her hands. "I don't think I can be around him, Mads."

"Vida, what are we going to do? We made a promise to help the Fairies. We can't back out because Daggeron is our father and we know it and he doesn't know that we know."

"Does he even know that we're his kids? He has to know who we are."

"And what if he doesn't? Do you think he would even believe us if we told him?"

"That's my point! I don't know!"

Before Maddie could respond, the door to her bedroom opened and Katherine walked in. She was twisting her hands, and her eyes were darting around the room as she walked towards her daughters.

"Mom?" Vida and Maddie said at the same time, concern in their voices. "What's wrong?"

Katherine took a deep breath and perched on the edge of Maddie's desk. She looked around, smiling as she saw the different pictures of the twins growing up.

She looked back up into her daughters' concerned faces. She felt tears burning in her eyes, but she had to tell them. After seventeen years, she couldn't keep it from them anymore.

"I want to tell you about your father."

* * *

**Author's Note: So, this was pretty much a filler chapter. I hope you all liked it!**


	16. Letting Go and Moving On

**Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews. I hope you all like this chapter. Also, let's pretend, for the sake of argument, that Daggeron has brown eyes.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it.**

* * *

**Two Years Ago**

_"I hate school."_

_Maddie snorted as her sister sat in the seat next to her. "You think?"_

_"Remind me why we're required to go to school?" Vida asked scathingly._

_"So we can pay thirty-some-odd-thousand dollars for a higher education then get a boring job and spend the rest of our lives trying to climb the bureaucratic ladder," Maddie answered in a bored voice._

_"Oh," Vida said, her voice dripped in sarcasm. "That's right."_

_Chip dropped into the seat next to them. They were sitting in the outdoor courtyard for lunch. Across the street from them, they had a view of the public park._

_"Sounds like you two are having fun," he commented._

_"We're having a bad day," Vida said shortly._

_Chip seemed unfazed. "Clearly."_

_They're attention was drawn away from each other and towards the park. There was a tanned man with dark hair and a pale woman with flaming red hair that were having a very fervent argument. The woman appeared to pleading, and the man seemed to be absolutely furious. He held his hand out, and she stared at him for a moment before a look of fury overcame her. She shoved something into his hand and whipped around._

_Her eyes connected with Maddie and Vida's respectively. Her eyes narrowed and her face twisted before she stalked away. Maddie and Vida looked at each other in shock while Chip's jaw dropped open._

_"What the hell was that about?" Vida demanded._

* * *

"This might be hard for you to accept," Katherine said quietly. She took a deep breath. "I've spent your entire life telling you that they're bad people…" She laughed bitterly. "If you could even call them that. I've raised you to fear them, while you're one yourself…"

Vida and Maddie exchanged a look. Katherine must be about to tell them that their father was a fairy. Whether or not she was going to tell them exactly who their father was was a different matter entirely.

"Mom," Maddie said gently. "We'll understand."

Katherine looked into her daughter's reassuring brown eyes and blinked back tears. She took another deep, shaky breath.

"Your father is a Fairy," she finally said. "I didn't know until after I was pregnant with the two of you. I never told him." Katherine was crying in earnest, now. "I was afraid that he would try and take you away from me!"

"Why would you think that?" Maddie asked in a soothing voice. Both she and Vida had silently agreed that she should be the one to do the talking.

"He is a Temptation Fairy!" Katherine exclaimed tearfully.

Maddie looked at Vida. Daggeron was certainly not a Temptation Fairy. Temptation Fairies were rare to begin with. They were only around in large crowds, when excitement was running high.

Needless to say, they spent a lot of time around Mardi Gras.

Neither Maddie nor Vida knew what to say to that statement. Instead, they just cast their mother sympathetic glances.

Katherine sniffled and wiped at her nose. "I only wanted to protect you. That's all I ever wanted to do. I never wanted your life to have the same outcome as mine. Not that I'm not grateful for you to," Katherine amended quickly. "Because I am. The two of you are the best things that have ever happened to me, and I couldn't be more grateful. But I don't want you to… to…"

"Fall in love?" Vida said quietly.

Katherine nodded her head. "Yes. I don't want you to be lied to. I don't want you to have your heart broken."

"And we understand that," Maddie said. "But… Mom… you have to let us live. You have to let us experience."

"You have to let us make our own mistakes, too," Vida added.

When Katherine looked up, Maddie continued her sister's thought.

"We're teenagers, Mom. We're half-expected to screw up, to make mistakes, to be stupid. Otherwise, we won't learn ourselves."

"I'm sorry," Katherine said. "I just… I wanted to keep you safe."

"We know," Vida and Maddie said at the same time.

Katherine nodded her head and, after a moment, left the room. Vida and Maddie exchanged uneasy looks before speaking.

"We're so screwed," Vida declared.

"I know," Maddie muttered.

"That wasn't even really much of an explanation."

"I know."

"God. What are we going to do, Maddie?"

"Hell if I should know, V."

* * *

"So. What do you do if your mother told you that you were half-Fairy, and then claimed that she only wanted to protect you and keep you from being heart-broken, while she still hated Fairies?"

Nick looked up at Maddie's words. "Did she tell you that she still hated Fairies?" he asked.

Maddie sighed. "Not in so many words." She sat down next to him and raked her hands through her hair. She looked positively exhausted and worn-out. The strain of the past few days was taking it's toll on her. "I have something to tell you."

"What?" Nick asked. He hoped that Maddie was going to tell him about her and Vida's little trip to see Necrolai. He wasn't going to push it if she wasn't ready, however.

"Vida and I went to talk to Necrolai. She told us that Daggeron was our father," Maddie said quickly.

"I know," Nick said simply.

Maddie blinked. "You do?"

"Yup."

"How?"

"I… uh… Chip, Xander, and I… we… uh… we followed you."

"You did." She said it as a statement, and not as a question.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I'm sorry, Maddie. It just, I was worried about you, and I didn't know what else to do—"

Nick was cut off when Maddie wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his in a gentle kiss.

When she pulled back, Nick stared at her in shock. When she smiled at him, however, he returned her smile.

"So… does that mean that our little charade is no longer a… charade?"

Maddie grinned at him. "Oh yeah."

Nick's smile spread into a grin as his lips claimed hers again.

* * *

"Well, you seem significantly happier," Vida observed.

Maddie smiled at her sister. "I don't kiss and tell."

"Kiss and…" Vida blinked at her sister in confusion. She trailed off, however, when Nick sat down next to Maddie with an incredible ease. He took her hand in his and grinned at Vida. Vida gaped at him for a few moments, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly.

"OH MY GOD!" she screamed a moment later.

"What?" Chip and Xander said in unison.

Before anyone could say anything else, Udonna came into the room, closely followed by Daggeron and Leanbow. She was wearing a grim look on her face, and Leanbow stepped forward and took her into his arms.

"I have called you all here for a reason," Udonna said quietly. "There is something you all must know."

The Rangers exchanged concerned looks. They had never seen their mentor like this before.

Udonna took a deep breath. "I was not entirely honest with you about our war with the Dark Court. Leanbow and I—we are the leaders of the Light Court. They took our son."

* * *

**Author's Note: And I brought up the son debacle. It would not be a Power Rangers Mystic Force fic without it! I hope you all liked this chapter!**


	17. More Shocking News

**Author's Note: I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long. Thank you for the amazing reviews!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything.**

* * *

**One Year Ago**

_"Mother, you're being ridiculous."_

_Dana gave her daughter a skeptical look. "Oh, I'm being ridiculous?" She snorted. "That's rich."_

_"I have no idea what you're talking about," Katherine said stubbornly._

_Dana shook her head. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, Katherine. You have to tell those girls about their father. They're sixteen."_

_"I know how old they are," Katherine snapped. "And I'll tell them about their father when they're ready."_

_"They are ready," Dana insisted. "Who are you to decide whether or not they're ready?"_

_"I'm their mother. I believe I have a say in what goes on in their lives. You, on the other hand, have none."_

_"What are you talking about? I'm their grandmother!"_

_"Yes, well, maybe if you had been a better mother—"_

_"Katherine Rocca," Dana said in a deadly quiet voice. Katherine stopped talking abruptly. She was more afraid of her mother's quiet voice then she was of her yelling. "How dare you insinuate that I was a bad mother? I did everything I could for you, and then, when you got pregnant—at eighteen years old, I might add—I was there for you, too. I helped you raise your children because you were too damn stubborn to go to their father."_

_Katherine didn't speak. She didn't know what to say to her mother. Katherine just shook her head again. She couldn't believe her daughter._

_"I'm moving out of here," Dana said quietly. "I'll let you know when I have the address."_

_Katherine still didn't say anything as Dana walked out of the house. She leaned against the wall and slid down until she was sitting on the floor. She dropped her head into her hands and began to quietly cry._

_At the top of the staircase, Vida and Maddie exchanged frightened, worried looks. What was going to happen, now that their grandmother had moved out?_

* * *

All of the rangers gaped at Udonna. She gripped Leanbow's hand tightly. Leanbow slipped his arm around her and squeezed her shoulders in a show of silent support. Udonna took a deep breath before speaking again.

"I'm sorry we lied to you," she said quietly.

"Oh, Udonna," Maddie said. "You didn't lie to us."

"Do not mistake us," Udonna continued, as if she had not heard Maddie. "You were supposed to become Guardians. You are supposed to defeat Necrolai. But—we, that is to say, Leanbow and I, wanted you for more… selfish reasons."

"Not selfish," Chip corrected. "You lost your son."

"Why don't you tell us what happened?" Nick suggested gently.

Udonna looked at Leanbow, and he nodded his head. She took another deep breath and blinked her eyes a few times, as if she was trying to hold back tears. The rangers exchanged concerned looks, but they did not say anything. Instead, they let Udonna continue with her story.

"Leanbow and I were living happily with our young son, Bowen," she began softly. Then, one day, Necrolai attacked. She had been a part of our Court, at one time. But she had committed a horrible crime and was therefore banished from the Light Court. The evil that she had begun to experiment with twisted her, and she came back to exact her revenge against us.

"We were a strong Court. The strongest, in fact. But Necrolai… her powers were unlike anything we had ever seen before. We didn't know how to defeat her. Everyone was fighting, contributing. The only people who did not—could not—fight were the children. Soon enough, I couldn't even stay with the children anymore. I had to go and fight with Leanbow and Daggeron. An old friend, Phineas, was placed in charge of the children.

"Our combined powers had actually succeeded in defeating Necrolai. We had banished and locked her in the Underworld. When we got back to the children, we found that the room was nearly destroyed, the children were huddled in the corner, and Phineas was unconscious."

Udonna blinked hard again, and she brushed her fingertips under her eyes. Leanbow's hand slid down her arm until he was clutching hers in his. He squeezed her hand tightly and whispered something in her ear. She nodded her head and sniffled.

Maddie found that she herself was blinking back tears. She could never imagine losing a child, and she hoped that she would never have to feel pain like that.

"Bowen was gone. We have no idea where he is, or even if he's still alive. But there is always hope…"

Udonna trailed off and turned away. Maddie bit down on her lip as a single tear rolled down her cheek. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Fate had been cruel to Udonna and Leanbow. They were good people who didn't deserve this—in fact, no one should ever have to lose a child. To know that your child is missing, but to still have that small sliver of hope that he may still be alive… the pain had to be excruciating.

Maddie felt a warm hand slide over hers, and she opened her eyes to see Nick's blue-green orbs staring deeply into her own. Maddie's breath hitched and, unwillingly, she tore her gaze away from Nick's and glanced around the room.

They were alone.

Maddie's eyes snapped back to Nick's, and he gave her a sheepish smile. With his free hand, he cupped her cheek and brushed the pad of his thumb over the tear streak.

They needed no words as she dropped her head to his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her there.

* * *

"It's slowly unraveling."

Necrolai pressed her fingers together and tilted her head downwards. A smirk unfurled on her lips before she glanced up again. She bared her teeth at Imperious, who was watching her with a slightly confused look on his face.

"What are you speaking of, my lady?"

"Well, no thanks to you," Necrolai scoffed, "they found the Pink and Blue witches. But, that is of no matter anymore. They are all slowly losing sight of the main goal. They are trying to fight for their own personal means."

"With all respect, my lady, how do you know this?"

"Don't worry, Imperious. I would not expect your simple mind to understand this." Imperious resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He clasped his hands behind his back and waited patiently for Necrolai to continue. When she did, she spoke with an air of haughty victory.

"Leanbow and Udonna are only fighting this war to find their son—which they will never do. I made sure of that. And Daggeron wants to get revenge against me. And we all know how well _that_ will work out."

"If you are confident, my lady."

"Of course I am. We will win. But I have something you need to do for me, first."

"And what is that?" Imperious asked. He hoped that it wasn't something stupid. He also hoped it wasn't anything like the stupid errands she used to send him on.

Necrolai smirked again. "I need you to go to the surface world for me. There are five little rangers I think you should meet."

* * *

"We haven't done this in such a long time," Vida said.

"I know. I've missed it," Chip lamented. "We haven't been here in a long, long time."

They were speaking of a little ice cream parlor in the middle of town. For as long as they could remember, they had gone to this little parlor and gotten ice cream. Vida had always gotten strawberry ice cream, and Chip had gotten coconut ice cream.

They always talked about anything and everything. Sometime they would even sit there in complete silence, which was quite a feat for both of them. Nevertheless, for over ten years, they had never failed to come here once a week.

However, with everything that had happened recently, neither of them had been able to make it to the ice cream parlor. They had both been upset by this, and they had finally decided that they were no longer going to wait—they were going to visit that ice cream parlor come hell or high water.

"You know, I've said this before—"

"And you'll say it again," Vida interrupted with a chuckle.

Chip made a face at her. "Haha. As I was saying, I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this ice cream gets better every time we come here."

"I know," Vida agreed. "I think that—" She paused, and her brow furrowed. She cocked her head to the side, almost as if she was listening for something.

"What's wrong?" Chip asked.

Vida raised her hand in response, and Chip stopped talking. Vida looked out the window of the ice cream parlor and scanned the crowds that were gathered in the park across the street. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw a man, tall and thin, weaving his way gracefully through the people.

Even though his unnatural gracefulness was a dead-giveaway, the tattoos that wound its way up around his arms, neck, and to the sides of face is what really caught her eye. They were a dark purple—the color of the Dark Court.

"Chip…"

"I know. I see him."

Vida set her mouth in a grim line. "I think you might want to call for back up."

* * *

**Author's Note: I'm sorry it wasn't a great chapter, but I hope you all liked it. I'm sorry I haven't updated in such a long time. I'll try to update more often.**


	18. Captured

**Author's Note: I'm not quite sure how many more chapters this story will have, but I can say that I'm nearing the end. Thank you for all of your reviews!**

**Disclaimer: don't own it.**

* * *

"So, when exactly are you going to tell Daggeron that you and Vida are his daughters?"

Maddie sighed and looked up at Nick. They were curled up on her sofa, watching a movie together. She had known that Nick had wanted to ask her something—she just hadn't thought that it was that.

"I don't know," she finally admitted. "That's kind of like asking when Vida and I will tell my mother that we're Guardians."

"So you haven't gotten around to that, either."

"Nope. How would you do it?"

Nick sighed and pressed a kiss to her temple. He smoothed her hair back. "I can't really say that I know. I couldn't imagine telling my parents, and they've already seen me doing weird stuff."

"Weird stuff? What do you mean?"

Nick shrugged his shoulders. "Stuff like rattles floating, full bottles mysteriously disappearing… you know." He grinned at her. "Your usual, everyday, magic kind of stuff."

Maddie laughed. "I actually don't remember if any of that stuff happened. Our mother certainly never told us if we did." Her brow furrowed. "Why would they tell you?"

Nick looked away from her. Before Maddie could say anything else, Nick looked back at her. His eyes were sad, and Maddie wanted nothing more than to take his pain away.

"My parents used to tell me stories of what happened when I was kid because I'm adopted. When I was fifteen, I had told them that I wanted to find my birth parents, and they told me those stories in the hopes that it would help me find them."

"Did they?"

"No. But they did tell me how they found me."

"How?"

"On their front porch. I was wrapped in a red baby blanket."

Maddie smiled. "Red," she said with a chuckle.

"Yeah. Red. I guess my birth parents knew about the whole Guardian thing."

"Oh, Nick…"

"Maddie, please don't feel sorry for me. I didn't tell you guys because I didn't want the pity."

"Oh, Nick," Maddie repeated. "We wouldn't have pitied you. You should know us better than that."

Nick looked a little shame-faced. "I know. And I'm sorry." He grinned charmingly at her. "Forgive me?"

Maddie touched her finger to his nose. "Always."

Nick shifted and pulled her closer to him. "Well, now that I've told you my secret… I think you should tell Daggeron yours."

Maddie pursed her lips. "I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"And why not?"

Maddie raised an eyebrow at him. "Have you met my mother?"

Nick chuckled. "I guess you've got a point, there."

Maddie lifted her chin a play-haughty way. "Of course I do." She laughed with Nick before she grew serious once more. "In all seriousness, though, she would literally flip a shit if she found out that we told Daggeron. Did I tell you that she told us that our father was a Fairy?"

"No," Nick said. He was wearing a look of mild shock. "What did she say?"

"She just said that he was a Fairy. She didn't elaborate much." She scowled. "She always does that."

"Well, for what's it worth, I think you should tell him."

Before Maddie could respond, their phones chimed. Maddie got to hers before Nick did. She flipped hers open and raised it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Maddie!" Chip's panicked voice reached her through the speaker. "You need to get down here!"

"Chip?" Maddie sat forward. She felt Nick's hand on her shoulder, offering her silent support. "Chip, what's wrong?"

"You need to come down to the ice cream parlor on the corner of fifth and seventh! We've got a new friend down here!"

The line disconnected, and Maddie shut her phone as she jumped up. "We've gotta go," she said.

Nick was already at the front door. "Lead the way."

* * *

They arrived, already suited up, the same time as Xander. They joined Chip and Vida in the center of the street. They were facing off a gaunt looking man. His skin had a disgusting gray tinge to it, and it clashed horrible with the purple tattoos the wound all over his body.

"Who's this guy?" Xander asked.

"We were just about to find out," Vida responded tersely.

Xander held his hands up, and Maddie scowled at them, even though they couldn't see her through the visor.

"Guys, now is not the time," she muttered.

Nick had already asked—more like demanded—who this guy was. He merely smirked at them and lifted his chin haughtily.

"That is none of your concern. Just know that I am here to defeat you," he said.

Vida rolled her eyes. "Of course you are. That's what they all say," she called to him.

"Oh, you teenagers. You're so full of yourselves."

Vida snorted. "We're so full of ourselves? Really?"

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but there's five of us, and one of you," Chip said.

"Ah, but my magic is much, much strong than yours. Come now, let's get this over with. My mistress would not be happy if I came back with a fail."

"Your mistress? You wouldn't happen to be talking about Necrolai, would you?" Vida asked with a scoff.

"Who else would I be talking about?"

"When you say mistress… you don't mean… _mistress_, do you?"

"As in a sexual partner?" He scoffed. "No. She has bigger things to move onto."

Chip, Vida, Maddie, and Nick all turned to look at Xander. He shrugged and held his hands up in a 'What? I'm innocent' gesture.

"What? Necrolai is kind of hot…"

"Ew! Xander!"

"What?"

"I've had enough of this!" the man exclaimed. "I'm done with this foolishness!" He launched himself at Nick and began to fight him with the expertise of many years. He snapped his fingers, and several foot soldiers appeared. They were there just to keep the other rangers busy.

Nick was getting annoyed with the fact that the man was only fighting him. "What do you want from me?" he yelled in frustration.

The man laughed. "Oh, don't be so full of yourself, Red Wizard! It is not you that I am after."

"Who are you after, then?"

Nick saw the man's head jerked towards Vida and Maddie ever so slightly. Nick began fighting with renewed vigor as the other rangers mowed the foot soldiers down.

Nick was doing very well against the man until he got him with a well-aimed hit to the throat. Nick fell to the ground, spluttering and gasping for air as Xander and Chip jumped into the fight. Vida and Maddie finished off the remaining foot soldiers.

Nick heard Xander and Chip fall to the ground. By the time he had staggered to his feet, Vida and Maddie were fighting with the man. Suddenly, with reflexes as fast as their own, the man slammed his fist into Vida's neck. She fell to the ground, unconscious.

Maddie gasped and dove away from him. Mid-dive, the man whipped around the other way. Nick saw a flash of something silver in his hand before he intercepted her, getting her in the neck the same way he had done to Vida. She fell to the ground as well.

The man stooped down and reached for each of the ranger's capes. He smirked darkly as a purple spell-seal began to rise out of the ground.

"Oh, and for future reference: my name is Imperious."

* * *

"We have to go get them!"

Daggeron shook his head. "I understand how you feel, Nick," he said. "But right now, that is just not possible. We have to find a way down to the Dark Court without getting caught!"

"I don't care!" Nick yelled. "It doesn't matter! We can fight our way through!"

"You are not thinking rationally, Nick! You have to plan it out!"

"I told you already, _I. Don't. Care_!"

"Nick—"

"Daggeron, they're your daughters! How could you just stand here and do nothing!"

The words flew out of Nick's mouth before he had a chance to process what he was saying. Chip slammed the heel of his hand into his forehead, and Xander rolled his eyes.

"And _I_ couldn't say anything?" he mumbled under his breath.

Nick turned around to glare at Xander before he looked back at Daggeron. To his surprise, Daggeron was not looking at him with shock. Instead, he was looking at him with a sad, knowing look.

"I know," he said quietly.

* * *

**Author's Note: Two updates in the span of a couple of days! I'm on a role! I'm trying to get this story done as soon as I possibly can. I hope you all liked this chapter!**


	19. The Whole Truth

**Author's Note: I'm sorry that I haven't updated in such a long. I mean, it's been a really long time since I've updated. I just wanted to thank you all for your amazing reviews. I can't really say anything else but, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything.**

* * *

Maddie lifted her head from her chest and blinked rapidly. It didn't take long for her eyes to adjust, seeing as how the light in the room was rather dim. In front of her, all she could see was a dull, stone wall. She shifted in her chair, only to discover that her wrists were tied behind her.

Looking to her right, Maddie saw that Vida was tied to the chair next to her. Her sister was still slumped over in unconsciousness, and it made her uneasy.

Maddie rocked her weight from side to side in her chair, in the vain attempt to move it to the side. She managed to scoot her chair a few inches closer, and she leaned forward.

"Vida," she whispered. There was no response, and Maddie lifted her chair back so that it was balancing on one leg before she let it fall to the ground. The crash echoed against the walls, and Vida twitched a little. "Vida!" she tried again.

Vida jerked awake. She lifted her head and rolled her neck as her arms tugged at her restraints. She turned her face towards Maddie, a confused look on her face.

"Maddie," she began, her voice groggy. "Why am I tied to a chair?"

"V…"

"Oh, that's right. Some asshole decided to inject me with some crap, and now my arms kill!"

"I'm flattered."

Maddie and Vida's head whipped towards the left, where a door had appeared in the continuous stone wall. The man that had attacked them earlier, Imperious, was leaning against it, a smug look on his face.

"Where are we?" Vida demanded.

Imperious stepped into the room, his face coming into the dim light. "Ladies, welcome to the Underworld."

* * *

"Wait a second," Xander said. His voice broke the startled silence that had engulfed everyone in Rootcore. "You couldn't possibly…"

"Of course I could, Xander," Daggeron said with a note of annoyance in his voice. "I've known for years, now."

"How long?" Udonna questioned. She was completely thrown. She thought that she had known everything about Daggeron.

"Since they were about six. So, roughly eleven years."

Chip couldn't help the question that escaped him. "Why didn't you ever say anything?"

Daggeron gave Chip a skeptical look. "Have you ever meant Katherine Rocca?"

Xander snorted. "He's got a point there, mate."

Chip smiled and shrugged his shoulders sheepishly. "Fair enough."

"I tried to meet them, but Kat wouldn't let me anywhere near them." He shrugged his shoulders. "So I just settled for watching my daughters from a distance."

"Why didn't you say anything if you knew?" Nick asked. He didn't demand it, he just asked it calmly, letting Daggeron know that none of them were angry for having kept this from them.

"I knew that they didn't know. I had a feeling that if they didn't even know their father's name, they probably didn't know that their father was a Fairy, either."

Nick, Xander, and Chip looked uneasily at each other. "Well… they do kind of know," Chip said.

Daggeron was so shocked that he could only blink. "What?" he finally managed.

"Necrolai told them," Xander admitted. "She asked if they would meet her, and then she just… told them."

"We followed them," Chip added.

"Their mom also told them that their dad was a Fairy, but she didn't say who it was," Nick said.

"That's much like Katherine," Daggeron said with another sigh.

"One thing that I don't get," Chip said. Everyone looked at him, so he took that as his cue to continue. "How did Necrolai know that you are their father?"

"Ah." Daggeron visibly paled, and he looked towards Udonna and Leanbow for help. They both held up their hands.

"I think this is one you should take, my friend," Leanbow advised.

Xander, Nick, and Chip looked at each other in surprise. They had never seen their mentor look so uneasy. It was almost unnerving, to see the most sure and confident man in their life almost fall apart in front of them.

"Necrolai and I… we have a… history," Daggeron began cautiously. No one said anything, and for that, Daggeron was grateful. He didn't know if he could start again if he stopped. "When the girls were thirteen, I got… uh… well, I got engaged to Necrolai." Seeing the three Rangers' eyes widen, Daggeron hastily continued, "We had known each other for a long while. She was a Drifter Fairy, one that didn't belong to any Court. Or, at least, that's what I thought." Huffing out his breath, Daggeron looked down at the ground.

"To make a long story short, I later found out that Necrolai was the leader of the Dark Court and had been trying to get information from me by getting close to me. Needless to say, she almost succeeded." He laughed bitterly. "Funnily enough, I didn't actually find out until after I broke off the engagement."

"Really?" Xander asked, seemingly unable to keep it in anymore. "What made you break it off, then?"

"Necrolai didn't like the fact that I kept trying to see Maddie and Vida. Eventually, we got into a huge fight about it, and she asked me to choose between her and the girls. Even though I didn't really know my daughters, I couldn't do that. I was determined to become a part of their life." Daggeron shrugged his shoulders again. "It was later, when we were breaking up a fight, that I discovered that she really belonged to the Dark Court."

"Daggeron, man, that's gotta be tough," Chip finally said. What else were you supposed to say to a story like that?

"My point is, even though the… feelings were never really there, Necrolai has made it a point to go after Maddie and Vida since you all have become Rangers. It worries me, what she might do to them," Daggeron admitted quietly.

"Which is why we have to do everything we can to get them back," Nick announced. "And we need to start now. They've been there too long already, in my opinion. I'm not about to leave them there any longer."

Daggeron looked up at Nick, a curious look on his face. "You really care for Madison, don't you?"

Nick opened his mouth to respond, and then shut it again, realizing that he was talking to his girlfriend's father. His mouth opened and closed several times while Chip and Xander sniggered in the background. Daggeron even watched with slight amusement as Nick fumbled with his words. Finally, he decided that he had to say something.

"Yes," he said simply. "I do."

Daggeron gave a curt nod. "Well, then," he said. "Let's get started."

As everyone gathered around the table, the door to Rootcore opened. Everyone assumed it was Clare, who had been collecting herbs. Udonna waved a hand behind her as they looked at what appeared to be a blueprint of the Underworld.

"Just leave the herbs by the pot," she said.

"I'm sorry, Udonna," a familiar voice said. "I was wondering if I could talk to Daggeron."

Everyone froze and slowly turned towards the door. Standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips was Katherine Rocca. She was wearing a rather angry look on her face as her eyes blazed to Daggeron's face.

"So," she said, in an almost conversational tone that belayed the look on her face. "Where are my daughters?"

* * *

**Author's Note: I know that was a short chapter, but it filled in some things. I hope you all liked it. Again, I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long!**


	20. And Nothing but the Truth

**Author's Note: Thank you for all of the great reviews. Seriously, you guys are amazing. I really hope you all like this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything.**

* * *

The three remaining rangers thought that nothing could faze their mentor. He had always seemed so sure of himself, so put together.

Clearly, they had never thought about what would happen if their missing teammate's mother showed up.

"Uh… Ka… Ka… Katherine," Daggeron finally managed. "What… what brings you… here?"

"You think that I never noticed you watching the girls?" Katherine demanded. "I know, okay? And they haven't been at home at all recently, so I can only assume that they've been spending all of their free time here."

"Aren't you being a little presumptuous, Katherine?" Daggeron finally managed to say in a steady voice.

"I've learned to always be presumptuous around you, Daggeron," Katherine snapped. "Tell me where they are."

"It's a little complicated," Udonna said, ever the peace keeper.

"Udonna," Katherine said dismissively. "It's been a while. I don't suppose you could tell me where my daughters are?"

Udonna winced and casted an apologetic look at Daggeron. "As I said, it's complicated."

Katherine put her hands on her hips. "You know, you all have been talking a lot, yet none of you have actually told _where my daughters are._"

"You might have to take this one, my friend," Leanbow said.

Daggeron gave his long-time friend an annoyed look. "Thank you, Leanbow," he muttered. He turned back to Katherine, a wary look on his face. "Katherine, the girls haven't told you anything about what they've been up to, have they?"

"No," Katherine said through gritted teeth.

Daggeron didn't like that answer. He didn't know why he assumed that Maddie and Vida would have told Katherine what they had been doing, though. He liked to think that, at one point, he had known Katherine better than anyone else.

"At all?" he tried again.

"At all," Katherine confirmed.

He went for the easy approach, instead of the band-aid one. "You're not going to like this."

"I don't like being here," Katherine hissed. "I can't imagine anything being any worse."

"Oh, they're about to," Xander muttered under his breath.

Katherine casted Xander a withering look and he shrunk back, holding his hands up apologetically. She put her hands on her hips and turned back Daggeron, an expectant look on her face.

"_Well?_"

Daggeron looked helplessly at Xander, Nick, and Chip. The young adults couldn't do anything but shrug their shoulders. Udonna opened her mouth to step in, but Leanbow put his hand on her arm.

"Let him deal with this," he muttered. "This is seventeen years overdue."

"They were chosen," Daggeron finally said.

Katherine was clearly living in the land of denial. "Chosen for what?" she demanded.

"Katherine, you know what they were chosen for. They're Guardians."

The young mother froze. Daggeron put a hand out and moved to step closer to her, a concerned look on his face. At the last second, he seemed to think better of it and froze himself, waiting for her reaction.

Before any of the remaining occupants of the room could do anything to break the silence, the door to Rootcore opened again. They were all surprised to see Dana run in, her long, gray ponytail swinging behind her.

"Daggeron!" she exclaimed. "Katherine is com—" She stopped abruptly when she saw her daughter standing in front of her former boyfriend. "Oh."

Daggeron gave her a tight smile. "Thanks for the heads up, Dana," he said quietly.

"Does she know?" Dana questioned.

Daggeron's head jutted back in surprise. "_You_ know?"

If Dana were a teenager, she would have rolled her eyes. Instead, she just said, "They're my grandchildren, Daggeron. Of course I know."

"You know?" Katherine repeated. "You knew that my daughters were running around with these… these monsters, and you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't tell you because I knew you would react like this, Katherine," Dana said. "Do you hear yourself? These are you daughters that you're talking about. You do realize that their father is a Fairy, don't you? You call him a monster—" At this, Daggeron winced "—but you are also calling you daughters monsters as well."

"I would never—"

Daggeron cut Katherine off. He looked absolutely livid. He had never really realized the extent of what Katherine had tried to teach their children that Fairies were monsters. His fists were clenched at his side as he spoke, the eyes that he had given his daughters dark and stormy.

"The only monster I see here is you," he said in a dangerously quiet voice.

Katherine gaped at him. "What are you talking about?" she demanded. "You're the monster! You seduced me! I never would have—"

"No! Katherine, I am not a Temptation Fairy! I never have been!"

"Then how did I end up with you? You seduced me, you sucked me in!"

"Are you saying that you regret having our daughters?"

"They aren't your daughters! You were never there!"

"You never let me be there!"

"Alright!" Nick stepped between the arguing adults and held his hands up. Once he had their attention, he pulled his sleeve back. The phoenix tattoo on the inside of his wrist was glowing a bright, almost a painful purple. "She's in pain. Maddie and Vida," Nick nodded towards Xander, whose own tattoo was a mixture of bright pink and green, "are in pain. Something is happening to them. We cannot afford standing here and arguing about something that happened seventeen years ago."

"Nick is right," Leanbow added. "We need to get going. Now."

"I'm coming with you," Katherine said.

Daggeron sighed. "Katherine—"

"Don't argue with me, Daggeron."

Daggeron sighed and turned to Dana, who was watching them with her eyes glazed-over. When Daggeron gave her an expectant look, she returned it with a 'duh' look.

"Of course I'm coming," she said.

Daggeron could only shake his head. "Come on," he finally said.

* * *

Maddie bit down harshly on her lip as another electric shock reached her. She was standing in a shoulder-high pool of water. Small shocks were being administered to the water every minute or so. It was never enough to kill her—the goal was to torture her. As an added bonus, she thought wryly, there was a steady stream of water pouring down on her head.

The stream water on her head didn't bother her—she thrived in water. It was her element. What bothered her were the electric shocks. It took away her ability to control the water that was surrounding her body.

Someone landed a blow to the side of her face. She bit down harder on her lip and felt the skin break. The metallic taste of the blood entered her mouth. There were Hydiacs surrounding the small pool of water, so there was no chance of her escaping.

She didn't know how Vida was faring. She did know, however, that her sister was sitting in a dry, desert-like environment. Another shock was administered to the water, and a small groan escaped Maddie's lips. She clenched her mouth shut again, making sure to lock her jaw.

Vaguely, she realized that there was a commotion coming from the door. She knew that Imperious had left a while ago, but she didn't know if he intended on coming back.

The Hydiacs suddenly left their posts. Within minutes, there was silence. Maddie couldn't find it in herself to move. She just let the water pour down on her head as she waited for the next shock to come.

"Jesus," she heard an all too familiar voice say. "Maddie, what have they done to you?"

Maddie's head turned slowly. Her eyes drifted open; she hadn't realized that she had closed them. Nick was standing at the edge of the pool, removing his boots as he prepared to get in.

"No," Maddie said weakly. "Don't."

"Maddie," Nick said. "Why—?" Nick stopped himself. Instead of finishing the question, he held out his hand and quickly but gently pulled her out of the pool of water. As soon as her feet left, another shock hit the pool. Nick stared at it in horror as he pulled Maddie close, completely ignoring the fact that she was soaking wet.

"Oh, God," he muttered. "Maddie…"

"I'm… c-cold," Maddie said as she shivered. Wearing wet leather sucked.

Suddenly, Nick's body heat shot up. He seemed to be radiating heat. He gently blew across her neck and hair, and she could feel it drying.

"Maddie…" Another familiar voice said. "Oh, Maddie…"

Maddie's head snapped up. "Mom?"

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope you all liked this chapter! I'm sorry it's been lacking in action, but I promise it will be there in the next chapter.**


	21. Staging the Rescue

**Author's Note: Well, it's only been a month since I've updated. That's not **_**that**_** bad… I guess. I want to thank you all for your amazing reviews; you are all truly inspiring!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything.**

* * *

There was no wind.

Vida couldn't help but feel surprised at how… alone she felt without her element. It felt like she had lost a part of herself. Rarely was anyone ever without wind; there was always a breeze, always some stirring of the air.

In this… _prison_… Vida was set in the middle of a desert-like environment. The air was dry and it refused to move. She was hot, she had no hydration, and she had no way to re-energize herself.

She was curled on her side, her eyes closed. In the beginning, she had searched for a way out. Honestly, she hadn't expected to find one, but it was worth a try. After that, she had just tried to find away to remain conscious. The heat had quickly got to her, and she found that with nothing to amuse her, all she could really do was lie down and try to preserve her energy.

She scowled. There wasn't even any shelter. She hated feeling hopeless, helpless; that was far from who she was. Her eyes scanned her surroundings once again. She rolled onto her back and looked up at the gray sky. Did deserts have gray skies? she wondered.

There was a noise, somewhere off to her right. She wasn't quite sure if she imagined it. She lifted her head and looked around. Her scenery hadn't changed, and she dejectedly laid her head down once more. Not alone was she alone with no hope of getting out, but now she was imagining things, as well.

Well, hell. This _sucked_.

* * *

Xander let out a frustrated noise as Daggeron tried yet another spell. This was taking entirely too long. Who knew what was going on in there? They had only just gotten a report of what had happened to Maddie; he dreaded to think about what was happening to Vida.

Daggeron frowned as he frantically thought for some spell to unlock the door. "This should have worked. I don't understand—"

Xander abruptly pushed Daggeron aside and pulled his leg back. His foot connected solidly with the door and it crashed open, revealing a barren landscape. His eyes found the pink-clad form of Vida, sprawled on the ground in the middle of the room.

He sprinted towards and lifted his head up into her lap. She looked at him with dazed eyes, and he took his canteen from a hook on his belt. Opening it, he held it to her lips, and she drank slowly from it. The more water she drank, the more alert she became. When she had drunk her fill, Xander helped her sit up more.

"Hey," he said. "How are you feeling?"

She stared at him for a moment. Then, to Xander's complete and utter surprise, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Xander sat still for a moment before he responded, sliding a hand around the back of her neck.

"Ahem."

Xander and Vida broke apart to see Daggeron and Chip standing over them. Chip was watching them with an amused look on his face, and Daggeron was trying to look anywhere but at them.

"Not that I'm not happy for you two," Chip said. "But don't we have some things to do?"

Daggeron looked as if he was trying not to have his head explode.

Xander, for his part, handled himself well. He stood up and offered a hand to Vida. She took it and dusted herself off.

"I'm fine, by the way," she said. She squeezed Xander's hand. "Thank you."

* * *

"Mom." Maddie couldn't think of anything else to say. Her mind was completely stuck on the fact that her mother was sitting in front of her, here, in the Underworld. "What are you doing here?"

Katherine frowned. "Oh, it's nice to see you too, honey. And while you're at it, why didn't you mention that you were a Guardian?"

Maddie opened her mouth to protest, but Nick held his hand up with a pained look on his face. "Now isn't really the time," he said. "Why don't we continue this later? You know, when we're actually out of here?"

"Then what are we waiting for?" another familiar voice demanded.

"Grandma?"

Dana smiled. "Hey, baby girl. Why don't you get up? We should really get out of here."

Nick helped Maddie to her feet. She leaned against him as they made their way out of the chamber. Maddie looked around. The only people that were with her were Nick, her mother, and her grandmother.

"Where is Vida? Is she okay? Where is everyone else?" she asked.

Nick chuckled as they made their way down a twisting hallway. "Breathe, Maddie," he said. "Daggeron, Xander, and Chip went to go get Vida. They haven't radioed back yet, but I'm sure she's just fine. As for Udonna and Leanbow, they're holding off the rest of the Hydiacs. So… we might want to get a move on."

Nodding in agreement, Maddie quickened her pace. They came to a large, circular opening. There were several more hallways branching off. Nick stopped and handed Maddie his canteen of water. She happily took it from him. As she drank, she could feel herself becoming more replenished. She was able to stand straighter, and some of the color returned to her face. She capped the canteen and handed it back to Nick.

"I can walk by myself!"

All of the occupants of the circular opening turned towards the third hallway. They heard footsteps and extremely familiar voices following them. The sight that greeted them, however, had Nick and Maddie gasping for air due to their uncontrollable laughter.

Xander was carrying Vida down the hallway. Chip and Daggeron were following them, each with amused looks on their faces. Despite the look of fury that Vida was wearing, she had her arms wrapped securely around his neck. Xander was carrying her bridal-style, and he just had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face.

"Hey, Nick, Maddie," Chip said good-naturedly.

"Chip," Nick greeted. "Vida, Xander. Daggeron."

"Nick, make your teammate put me down," Vida demanded.

Daggeron stifled a laugh. He cleared his throat and stepped forward into the center of the group. "I really think that we should be going. We're on a limited schedule, here…"

Maddie stiffened against Nick. "I think we have a slight problem with that."

Nick's heart plummeted as he realized that Necrolai was standing behind them. Uttering a curse under his breath, he turned around to see her standing with a smirk on her face. However, her eyes were not focused on the rangers; no, they were narrowed at Katherine.

"Oh, Katherine, my dear," Necrolai said. "It has been too long."

Katherine's nose wrinkled. "I can't say that this is a pleasure that I was willing to repeat," she said in a conversational tone.

Necrolai glanced at Daggeron. He was tensed, his eyes darting back and forth between his former lovers. His fists were clenched, and he looked as if he was ready to step forward at any moment.

"I have something that I've been wanting to give you for the past seventeen years," Necrolai said. A slow, nasty smirk unfurled on her face.

In retrospect, they should have seen it coming. Katherine had been standing off to the side of the group. Necrolai had entered the circular clearing right next to her. She was so close, and she had moved so fast, that none of the other occupants of the room had time to move.

One second, Necrolai was standing in front of Katherine, a smirk on her face and a hand on her hip. The next second, that hand was wrapped the handle of a blade… and that blade was firmly buried in Katherine's abdomen.

* * *

**Author's Note: I'm so sorry for the cliffhanger! (Again.) And I'm sorry about my predictability. This story will end… at some point. I'd say we'd have between five and ten chapters left, if I make it long enough. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!**


	22. Beginning to Heal

**Author's Note: Thanks for the great review. I hope you all like this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything.**

* * *

It was almost as if it happened in slow motion. Necrolai, with an evil smile, yanked the blade out of Katherine's stomach. She fell to the ground as Necrolai wiped the blade off on her thigh and re-sheathed it.

The group of rangers watched in horror as Katherine sank to her knees and hit the ground. Maddie and Vida, with the exact same motions, turned from their fallen mother to Necrolai. The same exact looks of rage overcame their faces as they morphed and reached for their weapons.

Necrolai barely had time to grab her own weapon before Vida and Maddie launched themselves at her.

It was as if the anger had completely renewed them. They ignored their earlier torture as they fought against Necrolai. She had been taken unawares, so it had taken her a few moments to get into the fight.

By now, they had attracted the attention of several Hydiacs. That busied Daggeron, Chip, Xander, and Nick as Dana dragged Katherine over to the side. She pressed her hand to her daughter's abdomen and looked around desperately, as if something might appear to help them.

"You bitch!" Vida screeched as jabbed her Magistaff at Necrolai. She twisted away from her Necrolai took a swipe at her with the dagger. Maddie ducked under the arm and managed to jab the end of her Magistaff into Necrolai's left shoulder. It rendered the arm obsolete, and the older woman let out a yell of frustration.

Necrolai stumbled backwards from the two angry sisters. She clutched her left arm to her chest as she began to laugh. "Your mother had it coming to her," she said.

This only caused the two girls to become more furious. Vida's foot connected solidly with Necrolai's side. From the ground, Necrolai kicked her foot out and swiped Maddie's feet out from under. She slammed down onto her back with a grunt as Necrolai rolled over and lashed out blindly with her dagger. The blade buried itself right next to Maddie's face, and she rolled away and to her feet as Vida straddled Necrolai and landed several punches to the face.

Necrolai reached up with an open hand and slammed the side of it into Vida's neck. With a gasp, Vida fell off of Necrolai and rolled to her side as she reached blindly for her Magistaff. Meanwhile, Necrolai had gotten to her feet and had re-engaged Maddie.

Necrolai swiped at Maddie with the dagger. It slashed from her left shoulder to just above her right breast. Maddie gasped and jumped backward, pressing her hand to her new wound. When she pulled it away, she saw that the blue glove was covered in blood.

She couldn't worry about it right now. She gripped her Magistaff tightly and turned back towards the fight, but Vida had it covered.

"Nick!" Vida yelled. "Sword!"

Nick didn't question Vida. He tossed her his Magistaff-turned-sword and Vida caught it with quick reflexes. Without any time or thought in between, she whipped around and thrust the blade into Necrolai's stomach.

The room went silent as everyone looked on with wide eyes. Necrolai looked down at the blade sticking out of her stomach with a shocked look on her face. It was almost as if she couldn't quite believe that she had been defeated.

She looked up once more at the rangers before she fell backwards. The thud of her body hitting the ground was almost a finality of sorts. The rangers stared at her for a moment before Chip spoke.

"Did that… did that really just happen?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Yeah," Vida said. She looked pale as if she couldn't quite believe it, either. "Yeah, it did."

Maddie, however, wasn't focused on that. Instead, she was looking at her mother and grandmother. Dana had made a makeshift bandage of sorts and had tied it tight across Katherine's abdomen in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

"How is she?" Maddie whispered as she fell to her knees next to Katherine.

"I… I don't know." Dana kept her eyes trained on her daughter. "I'm not a doctor. I…" She stopped, swallowed, and took a deep breath. "The bleeding has slowed, but I don't know how serious the wound is."

"Udonna will," Daggeron finally said. "She… she'll know what to do. We have to get back. Now."

Dana nodded her head and moved aside as Daggeron lifted Katherine into his arms. Maddie and Vida watched with pale faces.

As Nick passed Maddie, he held his hand out. Maddie slipped her hand into his as they walked away.

* * *

It felt like days later, but in reality, it was only three hours. Udonna came out of the back room of Rootcore, wiping her hands on a bloody rag. Maddie, Vida, and Dana jumped up with anxious looks on their faces.

Udonna smiled brightly at them. "Katherine is going to be fine," she said. "The wound was, surprisingly, not that deep. We cleaned it out and stitched it up. She's going to be okay."

At the same time, the three women let out sighs of relief and fell back into their seats. Maddie blinked back tears as she buried her face in Nick's shoulder. He wrapped his arms securely around her and held her to him as she tried to get control of her emotions.

That had been close. Too close. They had almost lost someone. More than that, they had never come that close before.

Nick nudged Maddie. "You need to get your wound checked out."

"No I don't," Maddie said. "It's fine. It's already stopped bleeding."

"Maddie," Nick said in a gentle but firm voice. "Go. Udonna, can you…"

"Of course," Udonna said. She held her hand out. Maddie looked reluctant, but she got up nonetheless.

* * *

"You're lucky," Udonna said. "This wound could have been much worse."

Maddie held the sheet to cover her bare chest as Udonna wrapped a white bandage diagonally across her chest, following the path of the wound. She shrugged her shoulders and looked over at the bed next to her. Katherine was still unconscious, but the color was returning to her face.

After a few moments, Udonna patted her shoulder. "You're all set," she said in a kind voice. "Leanbow and I are going to move your mother to a more private room." Leanbow was suddenly there, taking one edge of the bed in his hands. Udonna took the other end and gave her a reassuring smile before they left.

Maddie busied herself by putting her shirt back on. She slid her vest on over it and laced it up. When she was finished, she sat back down on the bed and looked at the vacant spot where her mother's bed once was.

After another minute or so, Nick entered the room. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Maddie said with a smile. "Udonna gave me so herb for the pain. I hadn't realized how much it hurt before she gave me something for it."

Nick sat down on the bed next to her. "I'm glad you're feeling better." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. He pressed his lips to her forehead and breathed a sigh of relief. "It was scary," he admitted softly.

Maddie tilted her head at him. She slipped a hand over his cheek. "I'm okay. You're okay. We're here." She turned her body towards his and covered his other cheek with her free hand. "We're here."

"We're here," Nick repeated. Then his lips were covering hers.

When the kiss ended, Nick pulled something out from behind his back. He chuckled as he handed it over to her. Maddie took it, turning it over in her hands in curiosity.

"It's a baby blanket," she said. The worn, red, felt material was soft between her fingers. She looked up at Nick with a smile on her face. "Is it yours?"

Nick smiled back at her. "Yeah, it is. Even when I got older, my mom used to give it to me when I got hurt, or when I was upset." He shrugged his shoulders. "It worked, so I figured…"

Maddie put the blanket on her lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. She pulled him close again and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.

"Thank you. It's really sweet."

Nick opened his mouth to say something, but, at that moment, Udonna walked in. Nick shut his mouth and Udonna opened hers, but she paused when she saw the blanket on Maddie's lap. In fact, her skin paled to a near-deathly white, and her fingers gripped the banister tightly.

Nick and Maddie looked at each other before Maddie said, "Hi, Udonna. Are you okay?"

Udonna ignored his question. Instead, her eyes remained focused on the blanket. "Where… where did you get that?"

Maddie looked down at the blanket and held it up. "This?" Udonna nodded her head as her fingers tightened on the banister. "It's Nick's."

Udonna shook her head. "It can't be," she whispered.

Nick and Maddie exchanged a glance before Nick said, "I'm sorry, Udonna. This is my baby blanket. I grew up with it. I don't know how it can't be mine."

Udonna looked over her shoulders as Leanbow entered the room. Leanbow's eyes immediately focused in on the baby blanket as well. His hand shot out and grabbed Udonna's free one. Udonna took a deep, shaky breath before she finally spoke.

"It can't be yours… because it's our son's."

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope you all liked this chapter!**


	23. Putting the Pieces Together

**Author's Note: Thanks for the great reviews! The first part of this chapter is a flashback.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything.**

* * *

_"Would it be foolish of me to admit that I'm scared?" Udonna asked quietly. She cradled her son in her arms as she looked up at her husband with wide, worried eyes._

_Leanbow wrapped his arms around Udonna as they both focused on their little son. "No. No, it wouldn't." He kissed her forehead and adjusted the red blanket that their son was wrapped up in. He tightened his arms around her and closed his eyes, reveling in that one, quiet moment._

_Suddenly, an explosion rocked Rootcore. It brought the two adults back to the present. Udonna squared her shoulders resolutely and stepped out of her husband's arms. She pressed a kiss to her baby boy's head as she handed him over to the Troblin._

_"Keep him safe, Phineas," Leanbow commanded._

_"I will," the Troblin promised._

_Udonna slipped her hand into Leanbow's as they left the safety of Rootcore._

* * *

_Udonna ignored the people calling her name as she sprinted back towards Rootcore. Leanbow followed close behind her. The fighting was over, and she wasn't going to relax completely until she knew that her son was safe._

_In retrospect, it was almost as if she already knew. Call it mother's intuition, but she had a feeling that something had happened to her baby._

_Her hopes were dashed when she entered the complex, however. The main room of Rootcore was in ruins. The children that had placed there earlier were huddled into a corner, safe from the falling debris._

_Phineas was buried under a large part of the roof. Leanbow went to make sure that he was okay as Udonna checked each of the children for injuries._

_"Where is Bowen?" Udonna asked as she looked each of them over._

_The oldest of the children, Breena, stepped forward. She had tears in her eyes as she put her hands on the arm of the White Witch._

_"Udonna… Necrolai came. She took Bowen away."_

_Udonna's hands dropped to her sides as she slid to the floor. Leanbow's arms wrapped around her as she dissolved into tears._

_"He's gone," she wailed. "He's gone."_

* * *

"What is this, the find-your-parents club?"

"Apparently," Chip said as he nodded his head in agreement. Claire, who was sitting next to him, nodded her head as well.

Xander gave Vida a pointed look. "See? Chip and Claire agree with me!"

"Oh, Claire only agrees with Chip because she has a crush on him," Vida pointed out. Claire's cheeks turned bright red, and Maddie hit her sister on the shoulder.

"That wasn't very nice," Maddie scolded.

"Oh, please. I just did them a favor." She pointed to the yellow ranger and the young sorceress, who were now in deep conversation.

Xander slid an arm around Vida and pressed a kiss to her temple. "My V, playing matchmaker."

Maddie grinned. "Who woulda thunk it?"

"Getting back on topic… What are you going to do now? I mean, you found your birth parents."

Nick shrugged his shoulders. "I just called them. They're going to be coming up here in the next couple of days."

"This may seem like a stupid question, but are you excited?" Chip was now finished talking to Claire. He was grinning broadly, and that led the other rangers to believe that he was successful in his ventures.

"Well, let's see. Are you excited?" Nick countered.

"Are you kidding me?" The red-haired boy's grin grew even wider. "I'm over the moon."

"Well, that's your answer, then." He looked down at his girlfriend, who was curled against his side. "What about your mom? When is she going to wake up?"

Maddie shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know."

"She is awake," Vida said. Everyone in the room turned to look at her with wide eyes. "She's awake and Daggeron is talking to her."

Xander raised his eyebrows. "You don't think…"

"Think what?" Vida questioned.

"Well… that Daggeron and your mom would get back together," Nick clarified.

Maddie and Vida looked at each other before they burst into laughter. They three boys looked at them in confusion as they all chorused, "What?"

"Like my mom and Daggeron would ever get back together," Vida said.

"There's just too much between them," Maddie added. "You couldn't pay those two to spend more than three hours in a room with each other. They're both too stubborn. Their only connection now is us."

"So… what will you two do now?" Xander asked.

"I guess we'll find out," Vida muttered.

* * *

Nick waited a moment before he entered the private wing of Rootcore. Walking down the hall, he finally arrived at the quarters Udonna and Leanbow shared.

It was more like a mini-house than anything else. There was a sitting room, and to the left there was a large fire place. On the far side of the chamber there was another door, which Nick guessed might be the bed room.

Udonna gestured for Nick to join her and Leanbow in the sitting area by the fireplace. The couple was sitting on the love seat, and that left Nick to sit in the arm chair.

"Nick, we were hoping that you would be comfortable telling us about your childhood," Udonna said.

"If you don't want to, you don't have to. We just want to get to know you a little better," Leanbow added.

"No, it's fine." Nick smiled at his birth parents. "I'd be happy to tell you guys some stories. I suppose I should start with the basics…" Nick's brow furrowed as he thought about which story or detail of his life he should tell first.

"My middle name is Bowen," he finally said.

Udonna and Leanbow were pleasantly surprised. They way that they had known that Nick was there son was by the small, gold embroidery in the upper right-hand corner of the blanket. She had stitched her son's name there one day, for even as an infant, her little boy loved that blanket.

"My parents saw the name and decided it would be a nice tribute to whoever my biological parents were to have that as part of my name," Nick explained. "And that blanket… Oh, I took that blanket with me everywhere. I was like that kid in _Charlie Brown_."

At Udonna and Leanbow's confused looks, Nick chuckled and shook his head. "Never mind. My parents were amazing. Weird, magical things would happen around me all of the time, and they just took it in stride. I really am grateful for them."

Udonna smiled fondly. "I do remember things such as that happening when you were an infant," she said.

"My only question is," Leanbow said after a moment. "Why did Necrolai drop you off at their house? If her purpose was separate us or make us suffer, why not…?"

"Kill me?" Nick shrugged his shoulders. "I don't pretend to have understood that woman."

Udonna, however, looked thoughtful. "Maybe it was because she had compassion."

Leanbow and Nick burst into laughter, and Udonna couldn't help but notice that their eyes crinkled in the same way.

"I don't think Necrolai had a single compassionate bone in her body," Leanbow said.

"Think about it. She was trying to weave her way into our lives at that point. It is easiest to bond with someone when they need comfort. We desperately needed that, and she had compassion and sympathy for us. Maybe what little time she had spent with us touched her, and she just left you to your fate on your parents' doorstep."

Nick shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we'll never know."

* * *

Maddie and Vida entered the room that had been given to their mother. Katherine was still lying on the bed; however, her color had returned and she looked infinitely better then she had hours ago. Daggeron sat in a chair by her bed.

"What's up?" Vida asked as Maddie fiddled with her wrist cuff. Vida rocked back on her heels, and both girls noticed that their tattoos were pulsing a bright pink and blue. They were nervous.

Daggeron smiled gently at his twin daughters. "We decided that it was time for us to have a little talk."

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'm sorry if it's a little sloppy… I finished it at 4:30 in the morning. The next chapter will be Nick's adoptive parent's visit and the talk that Vida and Maddie have with their parents!**


	24. Family

**Author's Note: Thanks for the great reviews! I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while. I hope you all like this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything.**

* * *

Maddie and Vida exchanged curious looks. Their parents had spent quite a bit of time talking in here, and they hadn't thought that they would be called in to hear what they had to say.

Daggeron looked expectantly at Katherine. Clearly, he expected her to begin the conversation. She narrowed her eyes slightly at him, but he remained unfazed. She looked down and twisted the sheet between her fingers before she began.

"It was wrong of me to keep your father from you. I did try and tell you," she added hastily. She looked at Daggeron and sighed. "But I didn't do a very good job of it."

Maddie and Vida didn't know what to make of this beginning. It almost seemed as if Katherine was trying to dance around the subject, as she always did. They waited patiently for their mother to continue.

"I was eighteen when I got pregnant with you two. I was scared, and I was angry. More importantly, I was wrong. I believed that Daggeron was something that he's not. Honestly, I didn't want to admit that I needed your father. I didn't want to admit that I was hurt that he had lied to me."

"I didn't lie to you," Daggeron said in an exasperated voice. It sounded like this wasn't the first time he had said it, either.

"You did, and you know it," Katherine snapped. "You didn't tell me that you were a Fairy until after we slept together. You knew that I was afraid of Fairies; I told you after the time one of the Dark Court Fairies scared the crap out of me."

"You never told her?" Vida quipped. "God, that wasn't smart." Katherine glared at her oldest daughter, and Vida held up her hands. "Sorry. Bad time."

"Your father has tried to see you numerous times over the years," Katherine continued. "I never let him, and you have every right to be angry with me. I wasn't very honest with you. So Daggeron came to me with a proposition. This is up to you." She looked at Daggeron and crossed her arms, signaling that she would not continue.

Daggeron did not beat around the bush. "You're welcome to come stay with me here, in Rootcore, for a little while. Your mother said it was alright. Dana has agreed to move back in with her to help out." He shrugged his shoulders. "You can leave whenever you want. You're not obligated to stay with me. This isn't a custody battle; this isn't an arrangement where I get you for one weekend and your mother gets you for the next."

Vida wasn't willing to beat around the bush either. She waited until her mother looked her in the eye before she said, "Would you be angry with us if we chose to stay with Daggeron for a little bit?"

Katherine's jaw locked. "I agreed to it," she finally said.

"That didn't answer V's question," Maddie pointed out.

Katherine pursed her lips and closed her eyes. After a long, tense moment, she opened them again. "I wouldn't be angry. I kept you from your father for seventeen years. The only way that I can begin to make up for that is by giving you the option of staying with him for as long as you like." She gave them a small smile. "I think Rootcore is amazing. I would stay here for a little while."

Maddie and Vida looked at each other. They had a silent conversation, and they both seemed to come to a mutual decision.

"We'd like to stay here for a little while," Maddie finally said. She reached over and squeezed her mother's hand. "We'll come to visit often; don't worry."

Katherine nodded her head and squeezed Maddie's hand in return. She let go a moment later and looked up at Daggeron; she was even smiling a little bit.

"Why don't you go and show them their rooms?"

Maddie's eyes widened in surprise. "How did you know?"

"You're my daughters," Katherine said simply.

Maddie and Vida each leaned down to hug her. "Love you, Mom," they said at the same time.

"I love you, too," Katherine said softly.

As they left the room, Vida stipulated, "There better not be a lot of pink in my room."

* * *

Nick waited anxiously outside of the Rockporium for his parents to arrive. It had been several days since he had discovered who his birth parents were, and they were coming to stay in Rootcore for a little while.

A sleek sports car pulled up and parked in front of him. His mother was out of the car before it had even come to a stop. She threw her arms around her son and held him tight as her husband put the car into park.

"Oh, Nick," Penelope Russell said. "Next time you come to live out here with your sister, we're going to come, too."

"What happened to 'letting him grow up'?" Bruce Russell asked as he stepped out of the car.

"He's my baby boy, Bruce," Penny said. "We had an empty nest this summer."

"Speaking of, where is your sister? We haven't heard from her since we made the plans to come down here."

"Oh, Meg is... somewhere." Nick didn't think that it was necessary to mention that she was currently with her boyfriend. Meg was definitely a rebel; there was no need to start his parents on the whole 'we-don't-approve-of-who-your-sister-is-dating" speech.

"I'll bet she is," Bruce muttered. Clearly, he had not fallen for Nick's lame-ass excuse.

"So…" Penny shifted a little uneasily. Bruce reached for her hand, and she relaxed and smiled. "When do we get to meet your parents?"

Nick shrugged. "Whenever you guys want to." They walked across the street and stopped in front of the tree that would transport them to Rootcore. Nick stood in front of it and waited until they came to a stop.

"I know… I know that this is a lot to take in," Nick began. "But I just wanted you to know… you'll always be my parents. No matter who my biological parents are, you'll always be _my_ parents. You raised me, and, well… you probably know me better than anyone else."

Both of his parents beamed at him. Penny rushed forward and hugged him again, repeating, "Oh, Nick!" Bruce clapped him on the back of the shoulder, and Nick breathed a sigh of relief. He felt as if this meeting between his adoptive parents and his birth parents were going to go well.

* * *

"Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?" Maddie asked. She had joined Nick on the landing two hours after he had arrived in Rootcore with his adoptive parents. She and Vida had just finished moving all of their stuff in.

Nick kissed her lips briefly in greeting before he nodded his head. "Oh yeah."

Both sets of his parents were sitting around a table. They were all laughing heartily. Penny and Bruce were telling stories of Nick's childhood to Udonna and Leanbow. The meeting hadn't been near as awkward as Nick had feared. All four of them had gotten along pretty well right off the bat.

"I know you were hoping for this," Maddie said as she reached for his hand. She squeezed and smiled up at him. "I'm glad that it worked out."

Nick squeezed her hand in return before he slipped his arm around her shoulders. He pulled her close and then pressed a kiss to her temple. "Me too."

"Nicholas Russell!" Penny called from the table. "Why haven't you introduced us to the beautiful girl that you've been kissing?"

Nick closed his eyes for a moment. It was just like his mother to embarrass him. Maddie giggled and buried her face in his chest. Nick tugged on her hand and led her down to the table.

"Mom, this is Madison Rocca. Maddie, these are my parents, Penny and Bruce Russell."

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Russell," Maddie said as she shook both of their hands.

"Please, call me Penny," Penny said. "Mrs. Russell makes me feel old."

"The same goes for me, young lady," Bruce said with a smile.

Maddie smiled back at them. She got a good vibe from Nick's parents, and she liked them already.

"Come. Sit with us," Udonna said. Two chairs appeared out of thin air and situated themselves between Udonna and Penny.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Nick said. "Maddie doesn't have to hear stories about when I was a kid."

"Are you kidding me?" Maddie said. "Of course I do!" She quickly took one of the vacant seats and looked expectantly at Penny and Bruce. Both parents laughed as Nick took his seat with a sigh of playful resignation.

Nick reached for Maddie's hand under the table. Maddie's cheeks tinged a light pink, but she squeezed his hand once again and laughed at a story that Penny was telling.

Nick hated being the cheesy, sappy type. But looking around at everyone sitting at the table, he knew that everything was going to be okay.

Now all he had to do was wait for Vida, Chip, Xander, Claire, Daggeron, Katherine, and Dana to get here. Then it would be a real party.

* * *

**Author's Note: I think we're looking at only one or two more chapters. I hope you all enjoyed this one!**


	25. A Happy Ending

**Author's Note: Well, this is the end. I want to thank everyone who read and reviewed this story. Thank you to everyone who stuck with me throughout this entire thing. Can you believe that I started this a little over two years ago? It honestly doesn't feel like it's been that long. Once again, thank you for everything!**

**I would also like to say that I've noticed that this story has gotten extremely sappy and fluffy. Oh well. I guess we better get used to it, because this story is about to get a lot more sappy and fluffy.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything.**

* * *

**Three Months Later**

"I love snow."

Nick grinned at his girlfriend. "We wouldn't expect anything different from the ranger that can control water, Maddie."

Maddie smiled back at Nick and scooped up a handful of snow. She pressed it to his nose, and it melted on contact.

"That's no fun," Maddie said with a pout. But she spread the snow across her lips and then kissed him. He grinned against her lips as steam escaped from their connected lips.

"You two have to stop doing that," Vida said as she and Xander joined them.

"You're just jealous because you can't do cool stuff when you kiss," Nick stated petulantly.

"Oh yes I can," Xander said in the same petulant voice. He waved his hand over Vida's hair, and a green vine twined itself through her short locks. Light pink flowers bloomed along the vine.

"Pretty," Maddie said appreciatively.

"And it saves a hell of a lot of money. I don't have to buy flowers for my girlfriend," Xander pointed out.

"They're prettier, too," Vida added.

"Come here." Xander waved his hand over the right side of Maddie's head, and pretty little blue flowers appeared there as well. Maddie gave her friend a one-armed hug in thanks.

"Oh, Xander," Nick cooed in a high voice. "Can you make me some pretty flowers, too?"

Two snowballs almost immediately hit the side of his head. One, backed by Vida's winds, packed a particularly hard punch. The snowballs melted, but the initial sting was there nonetheless.

"You guys had to go and waste perfectly good snow on Nick," Chip said as he and Claire joined the group.

"What?" Nick slid an arm around Maddie and pulled her close. "I can't help that I'm hot."

"Oh, you're so full of yourself," Maddie said affectionately.

"I hate to ruin the fun," Claire interjected. "But we're going to be late."

"Udonna can make snow any time she wants to," Vida pointed out when Maddie pouted.

"It was nice of her to make the snow storm much worse than it would have been so we could start winter break early," Chip added.

Xander grinned as they all walked towards Rootcore. "I love magic."

* * *

The Light Court used to have a big Winter Festival every year. When the attacks from the Dark Court began, they had to stop. But now that Necrolai had been defeated, Udonna and Leanbow felt that now was the time to begin with the many festivals once again.

There was a ballroom somewhere deep in Rootcore. The festival was being held there, and workers had spent a week getting the ballroom ready. The room quite literally sparkled white, but there was color added by the clothing that the guests wore.

Udonna had informed the girls that it was customary to wear traditional dresses. So Maddie, Vida, and Claire had spent the past week picking out a dress for the festival. The boys, on the other hand, got to wear the traditional wizard's garb that they wore whenever they came to Rootcore.

Of course, Maddie's dress was blue, Vida's dress was pink, and Claire's dress was purple. Maddie's dress had gold embroidery, and Vida's dress was sleeveless and split open to a white petticoat. Claire's bodice had a black pattern over it.

They had even got to wear cloaks, which—though they wouldn't admit to anyone—excited them quite a bit.

"Look who finally decided to arrive," Daggeron said. "You're only the guests of honor."

"Vida took forever getting ready," Xander said.

"Don't you dare try and make me the scapegoat!" Vida exclaimed. She turned to the rest of the group. "He wasn't happy with his hair."

Xander gaped at his girlfriend. Daggeron just laughed and shook his head as Udonna and Leanbow joined them.

"It's about time the six of you got here," Leanbow said.

"That's what I said!" Daggeron exclaimed.

"Don't listen to him," Udonna said. "The festival started hours ago."

"That just makes us feel worse," Maddie said. "We should have been here hours ago!"

"The guests of honor can arrive whenever they want to," Udonna stated firmly.

"Good," Maddie said. "I'm sleeping in next time there's a big festival."

* * *

"So you came."

Katherine nodded her head as Daggeron. "So I did."

Daggeron had spotted the mother of his children standing on the outskirts of the dance floor, looking extremely uncomfortable in a pretty, gold-colored dress.

After a long moment, Daggeron finally asked, "Would it be weird if I asked you to dance?"

Katherine made a face at him. "Yes."

Daggeron held his hands up. "Just asking."

Before another awkward conversation could transpire between the two adults, Vida appeared. She latched onto her father's hand and began to drag him towards the dance floor.

"It's time for our first father-daughter dance," Vida announced. "Maddie expects one next."

Katherine leaned back against the wall and watched as child-parents couples filled the dance floor. Maddie switched with Vida halfway through the song.

Even though Katherine didn't necessarily get along with the father of her children, it was still brought tears to her eyes to see them dancing with their father for the first time.

Once the song ended, Daggeron walked back over to Katherine. She hastily wiped at her eyes as he leaned against the wall with her.

Daggeron didn't comment on her glassy eyes, and Katherine was grateful. They stood in silence for several long moments before Katherine spoke.

"How are the girls doing at Rootcore?"

"They're great. Things are great."

"I hope that you're keeping an eye on her and Nick. Having them live together might not be the best idea."

"Katherine, I have it under control," Daggeron said. "And you know that Maddie isn't like that. Vida on the other hand…" He chuckled. "I'm thinking that we need to kick Xander out of Rootcore for a little."

Katherine blanched at him. "Do you mean to tell me that they're _sleeping_ together? Daggeron, you can't tell me that you actually let Xander stay over."

"Katherine, I don't, I—"

"You can't let them do that!"

"Don't tell me how to parent, Katherine!"

* * *

"Maybe we should go over there," Maddie said.

"Uh, no," Vida replied. "I'm trying to have fun here. There is no way I'm going to referee a fight between our parents."

"They'll figure it out," Xander said.

"Dude, they're talking about you and Vida sleeping together!" Chip exclaimed as he joined the conversation.

"What?" Xander squeaked. He whipped around to face his girlfriend. "We have to go over there."

"And say what?" Vida was clearly enjoying this.

"And… And I don't know! Try and diffuse the situation, or something!"

Nick chuckled and slid his hand over Maddie's. "Let's go dance," he said into her ear.

Maddie nodded her head. Together, they moved out onto the dance floor. Nick pulled her close as they swayed among the other couples.

"So," Nick said as they spun in a slow circle. "Are Fairies really as bad as they thought you were?"

Maddie grinned at him. "No. They're not half bad."

And then they kissed.

* * *

**Author's Note: Okay, so I know that the ending wasn't that great. But I left it open for a sequel. If you all remember, I never killed Imperious off. If you would like to see a sequel, just let me know. Thank you, once again, to everyone who left me an amazing review. I hope you all liked this finally chapter!**


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